Wandering America

The End Is Within Sight

2012-02-11T07:41:00.001-06:00

All that talk about pizza had made us hungry so last night for dinner we had grilled chicken and spaghetti with clam sauce. Yep, you thought we had pizza, didn’t you? Well, the four of us had had pizza at Mellow Mushroom on Thursday night so it was time for Judy and I to upgrade the menu just a tad.

Judy now has all six rows of the Scrappy Quilt Of Many Colors sewed together, now she has to add the sashings between the rows and sew them together followed by adding the borders around the edges. Next comes the batting, the back cover, and the hand quilting. She just may finish it before we point our noses west. But what about Alex’s cuddle blankie? That’s a good question, Alex is wishing and hoping.

I finished all the waxing that I’m going to do this time around. That is, both end caps and the four corner panels where the water runs off from the gutters. I really like the Meguiar’s #56 wax, but next time I’ll be sure to polish the rig with Mequiar’s #55 polish first. There was oxidation taking place and the wax pulled a lot of “gunk” out of the pores which tended to dull the finish. You need a really clean surface before applying the wax.

I borrowed Mikee’s buffer and it became a comedy of events; I Love Lucy has nothing on me. First, my heavy duty extension cord was too thick to go through the clips on the buffer that keeps it from unplugging, so I attempted to tie it around the handle. When I did this I broke a wire off inside the outlet end of the extension cord. So, I got out another smaller extension cord, but it was too short to reach all the way to the top of the rig. Next, while I was buffing the areas I could reach the whole pad assembly fell off the buffer.

Now keep in mind that while all this was going on I was working off a ladder that was standing in the back of the truck so I would have to come down off the ladder, squeeze between the truck and the rig to climb down on to the ground, and then squeeze between the truck and the rig to climb back up, and so forth. After the third time down I just put the buffer in the back seat of the truck, gathered up my rags, and proceeded to wax the rig the old fashioned way – by hand, wax on, wax off.

Mikee showed up and fixed the buffer, fixed my extension cord, and fired up the buffer which I used for the final final buffing. It began raining later in the afternoon and the water just beaded up on the waxed finish and ran off, so mission accomplished. I now know what kind of buffer I want when I finally get one – a six inch random orbital buffer without any handles on it. Walmart has one that they sell for under $25.

Don’t tell Judy, but I, also, need to buy a pneumatic grease gun to use with my air compressor for greasing the wheel bearings and the new landing gear plus any grease fittings on the truck. We have grease fittings on the coach’s wheels. The last time I pulled the wheels to “hand” grease the bearings, I found that there was plenty of grease on them from when Norm and I had greased them using his pneumatic grease gun. The key is to not over grease the bearings thereby breaking the seal. Putting ten “shots” in each wheel once a year is enough to grease the bearings and not overfill them.

Anywhoo, I now have just a couple of areas to caulk, a couple of places to touch up paint, and apply 303 to the slideout gaskets; then the coach will be ready to do its thing. However, there are still a few inside chores to finish up before we go.

Is all this talk about work tiring you out as much as it is me? Hopefully the end is within sight. In any event, we’re taking the next few days off. Company’s coming and we have some get togethers planned. So, guess who’s coming to dinner? You’ll have to tune in tomorrow to find out.

Bye, Bye For Now and May God Bless - - - - - - - - - -

Some Yummy Thoughts

2012-02-10T07:05:00.001-06:00

“Second verse, same as the first.” Yep, yesterday was pretty much a repeat of Wednesday - wax on, wax off. Judy had her dentist appointment yesterday morning so she had taken my step ladder extension into Foley (I use the truck bed to put may ladder in so I can reach the top of the front cap); therefore, I didn’t get the front of the RV waxed. So, today I plan to borrow Mikee’s buffer to finish my waxing marathon. Now if any of you want lessons on waxing an RV, drop on by. I will supply the RV, the wax, and the lesson, all free of charge.

Now onto more interesting things – Pizza. Yes indeed, pizza is an interesting topic. It’s generally round, it comes in different sizes (small 10”, medium 14”, or large 16”), and it has a diverse range of toppings. And, on top of all of that, it’s just got to be one of the yummiest foods in the whole wide world. Why, man could live on pizza alone.

Just imagine pizza for breakfast. You can do it. “They” (who ever they are) have a nice glazed cinnamon and sugared pizza which would compliment your morning cup of Joe just fine. Pizza for lunch. Yep, “they” (who ever they are) sell pizza by the slice so you can chow down on favorite flavors right there on the sidewalk while swilling down a beer (root beer, of course). Pizza for dinner. You bet, “they” (who ever they are) have an immense range of specialty pizzas to choose from. You can have a different gourmet meal everyday of the week for a whole month without eating the same pizza twice.

There’s thin crust, thick crust, hand tossed crust, wheat crust, and whatever crust you can dream up. Then you can have tomato sauce, oil and garlic sauce, scampi sauce, and so forth and so on. Next add some cheese. You can have yours with mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese, provolone cheese, asiago cheese, or a mixture of several different cheeses just to name a few. Toppings? Oh brother, there are so many choices of toppings that I’m not even going to start to list them.

Plus, you can find pizza everywhere you travel. I doubt that there’s hardly a town anywhere in the United States where you can’t find a pizza. And, just about everywhere you travel you can find regional pizzas such as a Chicago style, a New York style, Ohio Valley style, Midwest style, California style, etc., etc.. Now, you may ask, “What’s the point to all of this?”

Well, I said all of that just to say this. Mike, Peggy, Judy, and I have enjoyed pizza in several different areas around the United States. The first time was at Capri Pizza in Lake George, New York where we dined on a great New York style pizza - yummy. Then there was Pizza Time in St. Augustine, Florida where they serve Greek style pizza – oh so good. We can’t forget to mention The Cabin in Bath, Maine where we smacked our lips on a nice shrimp scampi pizza – to die for. And, of course, Foley, Alabama where we have partaken in a variety of specialty pizzas at the Mellow Mushroom – um, um good.

In a couple more weeks the four of us will be traveling together with stops in Louisiana and Texas. “They” (whoever they are) now have a Big Easy style pizza in New Orleans and a Big-Ass Texas style pizza in San Antonio (probably that’s just what we’ll have if we keep eating all this pizza). Anyway, on top of traveling and seeing all the sites, this gives us something really important to look forward to. Never found a pizza that we didn’t like, some’s just better than others.

Hope you have a pizza friendly day and May God Bless - - - - - - - - - -

Projects, Friends, And 242

2012-02-09T07:04:00.001-06:00

Meguiar’s Mirror Wax #56 with carnauba is a great wax and does a wonderful job. I went to wash off my hands after waxing and even Lestoil had a hard time cutting through the wax. It should last a good six months before requiring another wax job. It did restore some of the luster to the Gel Coat end caps, however, I will use Meguiar’s #44 Paint Restorer or Mequiar’s #45 Boat/RV Polish next time before waxing. That’s recommended to completely restore the finish before applying the wax. The bottom line, Meguiar’s makes great products that do a great job.

Also, I will purchase a decent buffer to use that will do a much better job at deep cleaning, wax application, and buffing than hand waxing/shinning does. I good buffer will provide a more even application and brighter shine after buffering. It will be a bit more work and Meguiar’s is a lot more expensive than using Nu Finish, but we like our rig to shine, shine, shine and that it does.

Judy started sewing together her Scrappy Quilt Of Many Colors. She has the first two rows sewed up. Alex is waiting impatiently for his cuddle blankie which didn’t get worked on yesterday. And, as you can tell by the first two paragraphs, I got some of my projects rolling along – still a little more caulking to do and more waxing to accomplish.

Jim and Linda (The Wanderings Of Emrys) arrived yesterday afternoon and we met up with them at the four o’clock social time. We haven’t seen them since last year at Bristol, Tennessee. Since then they have traded motorhomes and now have Emrys, a 2000 Newmar London Aire motorhome. We look forward to getting together with them this afternoon and, hopefully, get a tour of Emry; he’s a real classy looking machine.

Last night was our home group “meeting”. If you remember, it’s call a 242 Group because it is based on Acts 2:42. “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” And, that is exactly what we do. Each Wednesday evening we gather together for a time of fellowshipping with a meal followed by a Bible teaching and a time of prayer. We have six couples and three singles in our group which bonds together very nicely. The 242 Group is one of the things that makes it hard to leave the area for any length of time.

So there’s another day in the life. Take Care and May God Bless - - - - - - - - - -

Getting An Early Start

2012-02-08T06:30:00.001-06:00

The missus and I arose real early this morning. It must have been flashbacks from our w*rking days at the Amazon.com Fulfillment and Spa Center in beautiful downtown Campbellsville, Kentucky. We rolled outta bed at oh dark thirty (0430 hours) and fixed up a pot of coffee; by 0600 we were brewing a second pot of coffee. I can almost guarantee a nap later today – what can I say?

We’re slowly making progress on our projects. Judy hopes to get Alex’s blankie done before we leave, but she may not get her Scrappy Quilt Of Many Colors finished before the wheels begin rolling down the highway. I still have some caulking to complete, a little touch up painting to do, applying 303 on all the slideout gaskets and tires, and waxing the front and rear caps using the Marguiar’s carnauba wax; I should finish the caulking today.

Mikee’s project is coming along right fine too, he should finish the installation of a new sewer hose storage tube today. For further details on this project check out Mike’s Blog, Maineiacs In Motion. Mike, also, includes some photos of Rainbow Plantation all decked out in its Mardi Gras regalia.

The four of us (Mike, Peggy, Judy, and I) know that we need to get out and about; that is, make a day trip to somewhere. We’ve talked about several ideas but have yet to land on any one in particular. Hang in there, we’ll find something worthy of our interestingness, this “all work and no play” is getting real old real fast.

Take Care, Have Fun, and May God Bless - - - - - - - - -

The Errand Running Outing

2012-02-07T07:39:00.001-06:00

It was an outing, but it was an outing to run errands. We began by stopping by the bank to get a boat load of money. Next was a stop at Blue Water Marine to pick up some Marguiar’s Number 56 wax with carnauba for waxing the front and back caps of the rig.

Then we headed for S.E.A. Quilt Shop to get some fabric for the sashings on Miss Judy’s Scrappy Quilt Of Many Colors. The blocks have all been sewed up and now it’s time to layout and sew the quilt together. Judy found a nice purple colored fabric to use while the rest of the quilt is made out of “scrap” fabric leftover from prior projects; thereby, a Scrappy Quilt.

From there, we turned north again stopping by Home Depot to pick up a new spray head to replace the one that’s not working on the toilet. Just a note here – Sealand wants sixty bucks for a replacement sprayer and Ace Hardware in Robertsdale (who have an RV section) could order it for $45 bucks. I picked up a kitchen sink sprayer with the needed hose at Home Depot for fifteen dollars (including tax).

Next it was onto Tanger Mall and the Clark’s store to find some new tenny runners for Judy. Clark’s are wonderfully made shoes with great arch support; we purchased our sandals there last fall. They’re expensive, but are almost half price at the outlet store which makes them reasonable. While we were checking out, Judy saw a purse that was screaming “take me home” so there went the savings on the shoes. Oh well, Valentine’s day, her anniversary, and her birthday are all coming within the next month.

The truck was screaming “feed me, feed me” so we stopped by Dodge’s Convenience Store so the truck could have a snack. Continuing north we stopped by the Post Office in Summerdale to mail out the grand kids Valentine’s Day cards.

We had some books to return to the library, so we headed further up the street to the Marjorie Younce Snook Public Library in downtown Summerdale. While we were there the librarians were trying upload, with much difficulty, some books to their new Nooks. So I walked them through the process and when we left there were a couple of happy librarians.

The next stop was at Robertsdale Feed and Seed to fill a propane tank and then Winn-Dixie for some milk. Being that it was closing in on two o’clock and we hadn’t eaten since the last time, it was time to think about lunch. There’s a Subway right next to the Winn-Dixie and, being that February is “five, five dollar, five dollar foot long” on all their subs, we anted up our pennies for a foot long to split.

Then we headed home to partake in our lunch and sit back to relax after our Errand Running Outing. We joined Mike and Peggy for Martini Time – Mikee had a martini while I sipped tomato juice, Judy had iced tea, and Peggy drank water, but it still counts as Martini Time.

We finally settled in for the evening and watched the news (that was a bad idea) followed by a couple of episodes of West Wing. Fuel prices are being launched into the stratosphere once again. It’s a good thing that we are going to be w*rkamping at Hearthside Grove Luxury Motorcoach Resort this summer; it sounds like we are going to have to mortgage good ol’ number two diesel by summer’s end.

Phew, did that wear you out? It did us. Today we’ll pretty much hang around the house and work toward the completion of our projects – wax on, wax off for me and cutting out the sashings for Judy.

So, Bye, Bye For Now and May God Bless - - - - - - - - -

Oh, Boo Hoo

2012-02-06T07:18:00.001-06:00

Never, never, never wake a sleeping Giant. It was a close game, but the Patriots choked once again and beat themselves. Is it the curse of the Bambino all over again? Only for the Patriots, not the Red Sox? Let’s hope not. The next time the Patriots and the Giants line up nose to nose and toes to toes, let’s hope for a different outcome.

It was still a great day. Mike, Peggy, Judy, and I attended church yesterday morning. The four of us took care of a few household chores yesterday afternoon before heading over to the clubhouse for the Ice Cream Social at four o’clock. Larry’s Café opened at five o’clock serving hamburgers, pulled pork sandwiches, and chicken wings. This was a special meal for Superbowl Sunday. The projector was set up to broadcast the game on the “big screen” but, being that Mikee and Judy are serious Patriot fans, we headed home where the fans (short for fanatics) could yell at the screen without being hauled away in the back of a rubber truck.

What’s next? There are no plans in place for the entire week, but we all have some projects that we want to finish before heading westward. Judy and I are going to run errands this morning and then I will continue with the washing and waxing effort. I have a couple of repairs to make before we depart in three weeks, but, hopefully, the four of us will squeeze in a couple of outings in the local area as well.

Well, that’s it for today. May God Bless - - - - - - - - -

Go Pats!!!!!!!!!

2012-02-05T07:33:00.001-06:00

I began Saturday with breakfast at the clubhouse, it was biscuits and gravy day. Then came home and Judy and I got busy cleaning out the clothes closet as well as a couple of clothes drawers. Later Mike and I made a trip to Lowes and Home Depot for some supplies for one of Mikee’s projects. After lunch Judy and I took a walk over to Don and Gloria’s to inspect the installation of their new microwave/convection oven – they bought the same unit that we have. Then we spent a little time reading, planning our trip west, and thinking about our trip to the northeast later this spring. Mike and Peggy stopped by for a short visit and, after they left, we watched a little telly before hitting the hay. So there you have it.

Today is worship and Superbowl Sunday. Be Sure To Praise Jesus This Morning And Cheer For The Patriots This Afternoon.

May God Bless - - - - - - - - - - - -

Big Daddy’s Grill

2012-02-04T07:20:00.001-06:00

Big Daddy’s Grill, located on the Fish River in Fairhope, Alabama, has to be our favorite eatery in the area. There are many, many great places to chow down in this area, but we don’t know of any that has better shrimp dishes than Big Daddy’s. The shrimp basket comes with plenty of shrimp (you can get it fried, grilled, or blackened), fries (or you can have onion rings or sweet potato fries or a combo of any two), coleslaw, and hush puppies. Their baskets, be it fish, oysters, or shrimp, are all nine bucks on the lunch menu plus they offer a two dollar glass of draft Yeungleng beer.

Surprisingly, Big Daddy’s, way down here in Lower Alabama, offers one heck of a Philly sandwich. Sandwiches (which includes po-boys) are all six bucks on the lunch menu and comes with fries (same deal as above) or potato chips. Now this may sound like a commercial for Big Daddy’s Grill, but they have great food at reasonable prices and we leave with our bellies filled. On top of all that, they give us Escapees a 10% discount.

Okay, as you have probably already figured out, Mike, Peggy, Judy, and I headed toward the Fish River and Big Daddy’s Grill yesterday afternoon for “linner”. All four of us had the shrimp baskets; just can’t get enough of those grilled shrimp. After stuffing our faces, we headed to the Fairhope mecca, Wallyworld, to pick up a few things. Then we pointed our noses eastward to the camper’s shrine, Camping World. Finally we landed back at the Plantation.

By the time we returned home, it was “martini time”, although we had Dortha’s frozen margaritas instead (don’t really care for martinis). Of course, when you sit around with margaritas in your paws, you just have to solve a few of the world’s most pressing problems – only if “they” would listen to us. Also, we chatted a little more about our upcoming big adventure along with other topics.

So what do we do today? Well, we need to continue on our projects. This morning is cleanout the clothes closet day. After that’s done, who knows. But, we can guarantee you that we don’t color between the lines so anything is possible.

BBFN and May God Bless - - - - - - - - - -

Friends, Food, And Fun

2012-02-03T07:46:00.001-06:00

I don’t wanna get up, I’m a Lazy-R-Us boy. Yep, that’s how I feel this morning. I don’t know why, I went to bed at ten and got a good night’s sleep. I just don’t wanna get up this morning, but up I am.

Mike and Peggy arrived around noontime yesterday and it was soooooooo good to see them again. After a beer and some chatting, Mike inspected my wiring job on the new landing gear and gave me his “rubber stamp” of approval. We began discussing our trip west next month and established a departure date of February 27th making Bayou Signet State Park near New Orleans our first stop. Then onto Betty’s RV Park and a swamp tour? Not sure yet but it’s a possibility. A stop at Rainbow’s End in Livingston is in the travel plans and then it’s onto the hill country of Texas for a couple of weeks.

Miss Judy was up early this morning and had gotten the kitchen all cleaned up after last night’s supper. Mike and Peggy joined us for supper after the four of us attended the four o’clock social time. We had parmesan chicken, broccoli, and a Greek salad. ‘Twas all yum, yum, yummy.

Today’s schedule is pretty much blank even though there is a “must git-r-done before we roll” agenda hanging out there. We have some more rain heading our direction so I need to get some caulking done on the front of the coach as the water is leaking in behind the trim along the bottom of the goose neck portion of the fifthwheel. I had used silicon based “stuff” last year, but that didn’t hold up so I need to get some “RV Goop” to fill the gaps.

That’s All For Today. May God Bless - - - - - - - - -

A Slow News Day?

2012-02-02T06:47:00.001-06:00

Oh boy, did I blow it! Yesterday I made the statement, “Being that it is another slow news day here at the Plantation” when what I should have said is that it was a slow news day “FOR US” at the Plantation. There’s never a slow news day at the Plantation from the middle of November through the end of March since there are around 50 events on the weekly schedule. And, on top of that, there are several more special events, that are not on the weekly schedule, that take place over the course of a week. So, it is possible that one could stay busy from morning to night everyday. Life at Rainbow Plantation is anything but boring.

So, why was it a slow news day for us, one might ask? That’s because we are working on our projects at home in order to be ready to roll come the end of February. Judy wants to get her quilt and Alex’s blanket done and I have several projects to finish as well. I need to repair a hole on the underside of the gooseneck section of the coach, caulking and touch up paint to accomplish all around the coach, and a deep washing/waxing of the entire coach to complete. Then Judy and I want to go through every drawer, cabinet, closet, and storage area cleaning and sorting. We stay busy, that’s for sure, but when we are doing the same thing day in and day out, it’s just not news worthy. Therefore, it becomes a slow news day for us while here at the Plantation.

This morning I get to go to the dentist and get my fangs sharpened. Then, sometime later this morning, Mike and Peggy will arrive from points east (Bonifay, Florida). ‘Twil be good to see them once again and we’ve been looking forward to their arrival even though the landing legs have been wired up. I guess Mike and I will just have to celebrate martini time each day until I think of something that needs to be done, Mikee is my resident electrical expert. Judy and Peggy will find some mischief of their own to get into so you can anticipate plenty of get togethers over the next month to read about.

Be Sure To Hug Your Katt Today and May God Bless - - - - - - - - - -

Points To Ponder

2012-02-01T07:41:00.001-06:00

Yesterday we continued working on the washing/waxing of the rig, the little Scrappy Quilt Of Many Colors, and crocheting Alex’s blankie. And then, for relaxation, we did some reading and watched a couple of episodes of West Wing. Being that it is another slow news day here at the Plantation; here’s another editorial entry for your consideration.

We all know that our Congressional Representatives are irresponsible, but just how irresponsible are they? Here is a little “economics” lesson that we all should consider as we bet on our “dark horses” during this 2012 election process. Has anyone heard any Presidential Candidate or any Senatorial Candidate or any Congressional Candidate honestly address the National Debt issue? Not!!!

Traveling through Washington, D.C. these days is like traveling across the deserts of Africa and seeing Ostriches with their heads buried in the sand. But while our representatives have their heads in the sand, it might be a good time to kick them right square in the backsides. Here are some Points to Ponder before placing an “X” on your ballot this coming November:

Federal Budget 101

The U.S. Congress sets a federal budget every year in the trillions of dollars. Few people know how much money that is so here is a breakdown of federal spending in simple terms. Let's put the 2011 federal budget into perspective:

U.S. income: $2,170,000,000,000

Federal budget: $3,820,000,000,000

New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000

National debt: $14,271,000,000,000

Recent budget cut: $ 38,500,000,000 (about 1 percent of the budget)

It helps to think about these numbers in terms that we can relate to. Let's remove eight zeros from these numbers and pretend this is the household budget for the fictitious Jones family.

Total annual income for the Jones family: $21,700

Amount of money the Jones family spent: $38,200

Amount of new debt added to the credit card: $16,500

Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710

Amount cut from the budget: $385

So in effect last year Congress, or in this example the Jones family, sat down at the kitchen table and agreed to cut $385 from its annual budget. What family would cut $385 of spending in order to solve $16,500 in deficit spending? It is a start, although hardly a solution.

Now after years of this, the Jones family has $142,710 of debt on its credit card (which is the equivalent of the national debt). You would think the Jones family would recognize and address this situation, but it does not. Neither does Congress.

The root of the debt problem is that the voters typically do not send people to Congress to save money. They are sent there to “bring home the bacon” to their own home state. To effect budget change, we need to change the job description and give Congress new marching orders. It is awfully hard (but not impossible) to reverse course and tell the government to stop borrowing money from our children and spending it now.

In effect, what we have is a reverse mortgage on the country. The problem is that the voters have become addicted to the money. Moreover, the American voters are still in the denial stage, and do not want to face the possibility of going into rehab.

By: DAVID THOMAS
Chief Executive Officer
Equitas Capital Advisors LLC

I don’t know if I fully agree with the last two paragraphs. There are trillions of dollars being wasted every year by the Washington bureaucracy and our representatives on foolish endeavors and ineffective/useless departments (Department of Energy and Department of Education to name two). And, in order to realign their thinking, we need to, as my dad used to say, “give them a swift kick in the britches”. But, there does remain some truth to those paragraphs so, “we the people” do need to consider going into rehab and kicking our addiction, tightening our belts, and insisting that our Representatives eliminate the National debt and balance the budget. Our children’s and, especially, our grand children’s future is in jeopardy.

Think about It, are we so selfish that we’ll go ahead and spend money today on ourselves and leave the bills for our grand children to pay off? Or, to make it more personal, will I spend money, that I don’t have, on myself for my happiness and let Briana, Catia, Lola, Kalina, Rocco, and Radek pay off my bills? Somehow it’s supposed to be the other way around; we are supposed to be financing their futures. We MUST make eliminating the National Debt and Balancing the Federal Budget a top priority this election year.

In My Humble Opinion and May God Bless - - - - - - - - -

Chores And Projects

2012-01-31T07:29:00.001-06:00

I like to hand wash and wax the rig at least twice a year. That way I get to see “up close and personal” little problems or issues that are developing. Our coach is now going on seven years old (it’s a 2006 but it was built in July and August of 2005 and we took delivery of it in September of 2005) and there are several caulking issues developing around the end caps and trim work. We have some touch up paint and I will be needing to get that out as well. Also, the upper level of the end caps are beginning to dull from constant exposer to UV rays; that will require polishing with carnauba wax and, most likely, some buffing thereafter.

On top of that, our toilet is beginning to act up. The gasket has begun to leak again leaving the toilet with no water in the bowl a couple of times a day, every so often the valve on the “foot flush” sticks not allowing the water to flow, and the sprayer has quit working. I’ll have to see if there are any kits available to repair the toilet. I looked for a new sprayer and found that it cost over $60; that’s ridiculous, I’ll bet I could modify a kitchen sprayer to work and that would be less than ten bucks. I’ve found in the past that Home Depot and Lowes are a better places to shop than Camping World. Just say, “RV part” and the price goes up exponentially.

As you can see, one can always find something else that needs to be done. Living in an RV doesn’t negate the home maintenance line item from your agenda. Whether you live in a “stix and brix” house or a house on wheels, they both need maintenance. The big difference is where you repair things when they break; in your back yard or along the side of the road. That’s why preventive maintenance is such a biggy for us fulltimers.

Judy has been working diligently on two different projects – making a “Scrappy Quilt Of Many Colors” and crocheting a cuddle blankie for Alex. Both are coming along just fine; hopefully, she’ll finish the projects before we head west in March. Here is a picture of Alex stretching out on Katie’s blankie and Katie waiting patiently, on the top of the sofa, for him to leave (this is why Judy is making him his own blankie).

Hope You Have A Great Day and May God Bless - - - - - - - - -

Built Like A Brick . . . . . .

2012-01-30T06:36:00.001-06:00

Just a few weeks back I made mention of an outhouse incident that took place many years ago when I was growing up in Maine (We’ve Got Legs). Then, the following day I elaborated a little more about the construction of the said outhouse (Being In Love). Well, that brings me to an article that I came across regarding the construction of an outhouse along a portion of the Appalachian trail that passes near Delaware Water Gap in Pennsylvania.

It seems that, back in the nineteen and nineties, the National Park Service had a “two holer” erected along the trail at a price tag of $333,000 (keep in mind this was back in the 90’s, it would be twice that amount today). Now, I’m no expert on outhouse construction, but that seems just a tab bit over priced to me. Granted, unlike Unk, they faithfully used a square, a level, and a tape measurer. And I’m sure that they used the 16 inch on center construction technique as well. Further, they used state of the art materials and building techniques such as a gable slate roof, cedar clapboards, cottage style porches, and a cobble stone foundation. It was, also, build to “Gummint” standards to withstand an earthquake – just something that one would expect in modern outhouse construction (those standards were the latest rage all over Washington and the “Gummint” has plenty of experts on dealing with feces).

Now, can you just imagine, for a minute, the engineer’s resume who designed such an edifice? “1996-97 – On site engineer for Federal construction of a two hole outhouse along the Appalachian Trail.” That in itself would get him an interview at most engineering firms – if for nothing more than for sheer curiosity factor.

But, no matter how you slice it, I’d almost take a bet that if you rounded up the construction cost of every outhouse ever built in the State of Maine over the years, it wouldn’t come close to $333,000. This gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, “Built like a brick sh-- house”. Is it any wonder that our “Gummint” is in debt. They need to put Unk on the payroll, he’d save them a bundle.

As you can tell, it’s a slow news day at the Patterson household this morning.

Be Happy, Have Fun, and May God Bless - - - - - - - - -

Worship And Ice Cream

2012-01-29T06:46:00.001-06:00

What’d we do yesterday? I don’t remember, but I can tell you that we didn’t get done!!!! Like I’ve said before, the trouble with retired life is that you never get a day off (or any vacation time for that matter). I guess the highlight of the day was a trip into Foley to pick up a Papa Murphy’s pizza. But we kept busy all day none the less.

Today is Sunday. Yay!!! We get to go to church and worship the Lord. Well, we get to worship the Lord everyday, but Sunday is special because we get to do at our church. The only other thing on the agenda is the Ice Cream Social at the clubhouse followed by Ms. Banjo and Mr. Harmonica (neighbors Diane and Jerry) who will be entertaining us after the social time.

In between, we’ll find something to fill the time. I’ll probably wash another section of the rig while Judy and Alex continue working on the “Quilt Of Many Colors”. Judy is, also, crocheting Alex his own blankie so he won’t have to pester his sister and take hers. She works on Alex’s blankie in the evening while watching West Wing on television.

Well, that’s the state of affairs in the Patterson household this Sunday morning.

Be sure to Worship the Lord and May God Bless - - - - - - - - - - -

A Pain In The Pa-tootsie

2012-01-28T07:57:00.001-06:00

Alex was a real pistol yesterday. While I was attempting, note the word attempting, to sort out the tax information, he kept on getting right into the middle of everything. He’d push the folder on the floor, he’d start chewing on the paperwork, he’d attack my pencils and pens, and he’d push buttons on the calculator. And yes, he pushed a few of my buttons as well.

Then it was Judy’s turn. He was into “everything quilting”. He’d steal pieces from her blocks and carry them off to the other side of the room, he’d attack the cutting equipment, and then he’d stretch out across just as much of her sewing “stuff” as he possibly could.

Don and Gloria stopped by for a short visit and Alex gave Gloria a little nose kiss just before he hissed at her. After they left he turned on Katie. She was comfortably sleeping on her blankie, but Alex decided he wanted her blankie. So he pounced on her and chased her up into the bedroom and returned to commandeer her spot on the sofa, stretching out in the sunlight. What a pain in the pa-tootsie he was. I was going to make him give up Katie’s spot, but Katie curled up in Judy’s recliner so I decided to just let him be. No sense in waking a sleeping giant.

I managed to finish our Federal tax return, but being that we owe the Gummint seventy one bucks we’ll just wait until April to file. I do have to do the means test for the VA and the state taxes for Kentucky. We should get money back from Kentucky which will offset the dollars we need to send to Obama – someone has to pay for Obama-Care.

Each year I have to do a financial means test for the VA to determine my eligibility. Our household income is over the allowable limit, but we offset it with our medical expenses thereby just barely squeaking by. Next year it just won’t happen because we’ll earn too much money workamping in Michigan, but in July I turn Medicare so it won’t matter.

I decided to help my wife by making the bed. You know, I just don’t know how to make a bed. Oh sure, I was in the military and know how to make hospital corners. I can stretch a sheet as tight as can be so that you can bounce a quarter off from it, but I don’t know how to make a “civilian” bed. Since Lucy and Ethel are no longer on television, I think Judy lets me do it just for the entertainment factor.

She has a way of flicking the blankets and they rest nice and flat on the bed. I flick them and they’re nothing more than a heap on the bed. I walk back and forth – a hundred times – just to get everything straight and even. And then when I back off to look, the sheet is stil hanging down like the old preverbal slip under the skirt during the 60’s (do women even wear slips anymore?). So back and forth I go until everything looks satisfactory. It only takes me an hour and a half to make the bed while Judy gets to be entertained.

Finally I throw the pillow scams on the bed and just walk away – we’re only going to mess it up again in about 10 hours anyway. By the way, using scam instead of sham was on purpose. If you consider the price of those things you’d know why I think they are scams. Well, the bed was made, but it’s not any longer as we needed a place to sleep last night so I just might get to do it all over again today.

Okay, enough of that. What’s up for today? I don’t know for sure but I suspect that quilting will be progressing and a serious wash job on the coach will get underway. We’re working hard to get all our “projects” and “chores” behind us so when Mike and Peggy show up here we’ll be able to go and play. So hang in there, we’ll get out of our “routine” and start having some fun things to write about pretty soon.

Take Care, Have Fun, and God Bless - - - - - - - -

An Inside Day

2012-01-27T07:29:00.001-06:00

The storms moved in a little earlier than predicted and was pretty much past by noontime, however, it remained overcast for the rest of the day. We could have made it a PJ day, but we didn’t. One thing about overcast days is that they make beautiful sunsets. Here’s another one of God’s Masterpieces.

Being that we “stood” inside, Judy and Alex worked on the “Quilt Of Many Colors”. Judy cut out the pieces and, then, Alex sewed them up after which she would iron them.

By working together they got a lot done. It’s always good to lend a helping paw to your fellow woman. Good job, you two!!!

While they were busy with the “Quilt Of Many Colors”, Katie and I finalized the arrangements for our workamping assignment this coming summer. We talked with Craig at Hearthside Grove Luxury Motorcoach Resort in Petoskey, Michigan. We will start w*rking on June 11th and finish around October 10th. Being that Hearthside is a “motorcoach” only resort, we will need to stay at the KOA which is a mile down the road (the Rose family owns both “campgrounds”). It will be mainly a customer service job with little to no maintenance, landscaping, and/or cleaning involved. Craig is looking forward to our arrival and said we could expect to have a great summer. Now that we have a start date for workamping, we can put together a timeline for our spring travels.

Did I get around to the taxes yesterday? Nope, I started but needed the table to sort out our itemized deductions and Alex wouldn’t make room. So, maybe I can get things sorted out this morning before they get started on the quilt again. It would be good to get that behind us as I will need the medical expense information to submit to the VA as well.

Well, the sun is shining brightly and it looks like we are going to have another great Rainbow day. This month has been super here in Lower Alabama, just the kind of weather that the Snowbirds from the north look for. Hopefully it will hold out for another couple of months, then it will be “summah time” here in the southland.

Take Care, Have Fun, and God Bless - - - - - - - -

Projects, Paperwork, And Pests

2012-01-26T07:29:00.001-06:00

We can officially say that everything to do with the installation of the new landing gear is complete. Yesterday I fabricated and installed the new panel door that covers the hole that I had to cut in the propane tank housing. I put a piano hinge on one side and anchor screws on the other so that we’ll be able to gain access to the grease fitting at the top of the landing leg. Now, to be honest with you, the whole job could have easily been done in a couple of days as I have less than eight hours of work in the whole project. But, I “be” retired and there’s no reason to rush into these things. We now believe in w*rking no more than two hours a day and just a couple of days a week.

While I was playing mechanic, Judy was busy working on her “Quilt Of Many Colors”. She has 16 blocks all sewed up and another 8 cut out (she’s going to need about 40 in all). There’s 13 different pieces to each block so the “Quilt Of Many Colors” is going to take her a couple more days. If she works at it like I did the landing gear it will only take her a couple of years to finish it. However, this is in the hobby column, not considered w*rk, so she can work on it more than a couple hours a day. Her goal is to have the “Quilt Of Many Colors” finished by the end of February.

We’re “fixinto” get a severe weather pattern passing through Lower Alabama today. It has potential for tornadoes, but will most likely be thunder and lightening with heavy rain. It will probably pass through in a couple of hours somewhere between 10 and 2. So, today Judy J. and I will have to play inside.

Like everyone else in this world, we have paperwork to do. This is the tax return time of year. Plus, each year, when we do our taxes, we go through the two file drawers in our desk and shred all the unnecessary paperwork. So maybe I’ll get started on all that today while Miss Judy continues building blocks for her quilt.

For some reason we have an abundance of small ants crawling all over the house, in the house, all over the shed, and in the shed. When I say little ants, I mean little ants. These things are about the size of “no see-ums”, but they’re everywhere. So, after the rain passes through, I need to get the spray out and get busy spraying inside and out. “Knock ‘em dead!!”

Well, “enuf is enuf” and this is more than “enuf” so, May God Bless - - - - - - - - -

Writing About Nothing

2012-01-25T07:32:00.001-06:00

This morning I sat there starring blankly at the blue screen, not the blue screen of death, but the blue screen of Live Writer which I use to write this blog. What to write, what to write? We didn’t do anything special yesterday; at least nothing noteworthy. So what to write, what to write? Absolutely nothing came to mind.

Is this what they call writer’s block? Or have I just run out of ways to write about the same thing everyday? Our life is not boring, but it’s not always the most exciting one either. While we are here at the Plantation we tend to catch up on all our maintenance issues while engaging in our hobbies and spending a lot of time relaxing and reading.

So, like the old Seinfeld episode, this blog entry is about nothing. There is a lot to be said about nothing. At least nothing is not being sick, or having a lot of stress, or dealing with negative emotions, or digging out of debt, or being extremely busy. Nothing can be a time of refreshment while waiting for the Mardi Gras celebrations to kick off in the area. Nothing can be a time of reclining, relaxing, and reflecting. So, I guess nothing is something to write about after all.

Hope your having a great nothing day and May God Bless - - - - - - - -

They’re Up And Running

2012-01-24T07:51:00.001-06:00

We have officially rejoined the ranks of fulltime RVers and are no longer living in a mobile home on blocks. The legs are now all wired up and fully operational and, oh boy, do they ever work. No more grinding, bogging down, and/or jumping gears. Just a smooth hum of the motors as the front of the coach rises to new heights. And, we can tweak the side to side leveling with these new independent legs as well. We just might have to buy two more levelers for the back of the coach and then we could level the entire coach with the push of a button (or two).

Now all we need to do is fabricate the new “door” to install in the propane tank housing. Then, it will be “What’s next?” Probably applying 303 on all the exposed rubber gaskets around the slideouts and onto the tires. Then it will be the washing and waxing of the rig. Also, there’s the annual “go through our stuff and get rid of what we’re not using” ritual. There’s always plenty to be done.

We received calls from family members wondering where we were in regards to the tornadoes that hit Alabama yesterday. Well, we were about two to three hours south of their track, however, there is a storm system that’s heading out of Texas which will cross right over us on Thursday. We’ll just have to keep an eye on the weather to see if any actions will be required on our part. Sure glad that the house is ready to roll, once again, should that become necessary. Tornado season is getting an early start this year.

Last night we went to Ray and Pat’s for dinner. Pat must have spent most of the day cooking and it was absolutely delicious. She had prepared a roast beef, smashed ‘taters, carrots, squash, an apple/celery/raisin salad, yeast rolls, and chocolate chunk cookies. Wow, was that ever a yummy meal. Thanks Pat, you can cook for us any day of the week. Oh yes, thanks to Ray for all the moral support to Pat and being a gracious host by sharing his chocolate chip cookies with us.

Bye, Bye For Now and May God Bless - - - - - - - - -

Giants In The Land

2012-01-23T06:43:00.001-06:00

Long before there were any Patriots, there were Giants roaming the land. That is to say that during my childhood in the 50’s, the New York Giants were our home team. My dad, my uncles, all the family friends, and the katt were all Giants fans. We’d gather around the black and white television set on a snowy day (back then everyday was a snowy day on television) to watch the football games and root for the Giants.

Well, that began to change in 1960 as a new “home team” took to the field – the Boston Patriots. Over the decades Mainers have forgotten the good old days of snowy television and loyalty to the New York Giants. Come Superbowl Sunday the New England Patriots will be matched up with the New York Giants. Although there’s still a warm spot someplace in my heart for the Giants, there’s just one thing that we have to say – “Go Pats!!!!”

Both games were squeakers. The whole world is still amazed that the Ravens missed that field goal opportunity which would have sent the game into overtime. San Francisco did make their field goal and that game moved onto overtime with the Giants winning by a field goal. But, once again, “Go Pats!!!”

Now, before there was football there was worship. Yesterday’s worship service was one of the most challenging ones that Judy and I have attended in a long time. The music lead us into a spirit of worship and then Pastor Russ’s message was right on the mark. The subject was living a purposeful life which left us with more than enough to reflect on. If you are interested in hearing Pastor Russ’s message go to Church On The Eastern Shore’s website and click on “Media” then select “5 Simple Choices” and choose week “3”. It should be loaded later today and you’ll be able to either watch or listen to the sermon and you’ll be glad you did.

One last thing, if you haven’t upgraded to 4G service yet then our advice would be to wait. In our humble opinion, 4G is not where it needs to be and we’re sorry that we upgraded. Our USB 760 device was far more reliable than the 4G modem that we are currently attempting to use. Nick Russell isn’t happy with his 4G MIFI either and Jack Mayer recommends holding off a little longer before upgrading to allow 4G to stabilize.

Yesterday afternoon we lost connectivity and made several attempts to get connected using both our new router as well as our old router. It was no go and we were off line for over 12 hours. It’s been frustrating and not worth the $17.50 that we save off the monthly fee by upgrading. So, if you have something that’s working for you, don’t mess with it just to save some money. 4G was rolled out too early and just isn’t reliable enough yet, but it will get there – all we can say right now is “the sooner, the better”.

Bye, Bye For Now and May God Bless - - - - - - - -

Visitors From A Far

2012-01-22T06:49:00.001-06:00

Allan and Jeanne dropped by for a visit yesterday afternoon; it is always a joy to see them. We first met them right here at Rainbow Plantation a few years back. They volunteer for several different Christian organizations and were building a church in Robertsdale. Being that they had found our website, became followers, and knew we were at the Plantation, they arranged a get together with us and joined us for a couple of Mardi Gras events at the clubhouse. Since then we’ve continued to “bump into each other” a couple of times each year. They are currently volunteering about an hour from us in Mississippi. We plan to visit with them at their “job site” and they’ll join us here at the Plantation for some of this year’s Mardi Gras events.

As always, we had a wonderful visit while catching up with our lives since our last visit which was almost a year ago. Since then they’ve upgraded their equipment – trading their Excel fifthwheel for a Phaeton diesel pusher and selling their medium duty truck. They told us that Katie, their katt, just loves the motorhome and, even though she’s still not wild about traveling, she rides a whole lot better. I guess we’ll need to buy the katts a new motorhome.

Did we ever tell you that the best part of this lifestyle is all the people you meet and the friends you make? Yeah, I know. Thousands and thousands of times, but it’s sooooo true. We have move friends now than we’ve ever had at any other time in our lives.

Today will be the typical Sunday – attend worship this morning, watch the Patriots beat the Ravens this afternoon, and attend the Ice Cream Social at the clubhouse this evening. So we hope you have “a beautiful Rainbow day”.

Bye, Bye For Now and May God Bless - - - - - - - -

Lazy Bones And Katt Tales

2012-01-21T08:12:00.001-06:00

Good morning, Alex here. I hate to tell on dad, but he didn’t get his bag of bones out of bed until quarter after seven this morning. Mom said, “It’s about time that you got up!” I gotta tell ya, I’m no “lay a bed”. I was up at quarter till five this morning. Even mom wasn’t stirring at that hour and Katie never gets up before the sun’s out (she thinks that the sun rises when she does). Anyway, the old man is getting a late start today so I got busy on the ‘puter just so’s you’d have something to read.

Yesterday, while dad and mom were at Home Depot buying the “stuff” needed to wire up the front jacks and to repair the propane tank housing, a bird flew right up to the window. Katie and I tried to coax him into the house, but no deal. We had visions of shish-kabob dancing in our heads. But that bird must have had other ideas, like living to see another day, ‘cause he wouldn’t co-operate with us.

Anyway, dad and mom arrived home with “stuff” they needed so today I suppose dad will attempt to get the front jacks operational today. He’ll just have to find something else for Mikee to do once he and Peggy arrive here from old-folks-land. Most likely they’ll just enjoy “martini time” with frozen margarita’s and go to Big Daddy’s for shrimp while leaving us pussy katts to home.

We never get to go anywhere unless the whole house goes. Then we spend hours and hours traveling down the highways and by-ways. It’s feast or famine. Why don’t they take us to Pet Smart sometime and let us roam the store just to see what we could find to get into. Katie and I might like this “shopping” thing if we were given the opportunity.

Oh well, that’s how it goes. I guess Katie and I are pretty content staying right to home. Our home sweet home is a nice little house on wheels. We’ve been to places that other katts only dream about going and we’ve seen things that the average house katt never gets to see. So, I guess, we’re pretty lucky felines.

Plus we’ve never had to scrounge for our food like some alley katts have to do. Our house has a magic closet where an endless supply of katt food comes from. Mom just opens the closet door and there is a container with our dinner in it – it never runs out. God is good to us just like the widow and her son during Elijah’s time. Feast or famine, there’s always food in the magic closet. So, we are, indeed, blessed.

Okay, dad’s fumbling around looking for his coffee so I had better get out of his recliner and give up the ‘puter, so you have yourself a purr-fect day.

Alex

Another Fine Day In The Life

2012-01-20T07:03:00.001-06:00

Both Judy and I were busy at the clubhouse yesterday morning. Judy with quilting and I was assisting Larry the Cook with last night’s dinner. The clubhouse was just a buzz with activities. Here are some photos of just a few of the clubhouse activities.

“Ladies, start your machines!” There were at least sixteen sewing machines humming at full tilt. Is this what they refer to as a sewing bee?

Then, right next to them, was the chair caning craft progressing along nicely. This has become a very popular craft at the clubhouse over the past three years. Last year chairs were donated and auctioned off raising over $1,800 for the Escapees CARE Facility.

Then, of course, there was the kitchen crew hard at work on Thursday night’s dinner. Potatoes to cut, chicken to prepare, beans to bake. Norm and Don took care of the ‘taters while Karen and I worked on the chicken. Duke baked the beans and Larry baked the cakes. Later in the afternoon, Larry BBQ’d the chicken and baked the potato wedges.

Once back home, Judy spent the rest of the afternoon working on her quilt. She is using up all her scrap fabric to make herself a “quilt of many colors”. Each block has thirteen pieces – that’s a lot of pieces!!!! I can’t wait to see this new creation as no two blocks are alike. While she was busy with that, I started reading my next Nevada Barr novel, Flashback, and then joined Alex and Katie for a little katt nap – that was the katt’s meow!!!

We attended the four o’clock social. Nick and Terry Russell are back in town, it was nice to see them once again. Nick’s novel, Big Lake, has sold over 35,000 copies; that makes him a very “happy camper” indeed (you can find it on Amazon.com or Smashwords.com). They’ll be here for several days before making their way further west. We hope to spend a little more time with them.

We stayed for the Thursday night meal; another fine meal by Larry and crew. The best part of dinner is that we got to meet new friends, Bruce and Lena, who joined us at our table for dinner. They just happen to be New Englanders who are now living in New York and traveling around the country in their Airstream accompanied by Sprocket, their fur kid. You can catch up with them on their blog – Finding Our Way.

Joe Peters and Linda Hicks provided some excellent entertainment after the meal. They write and sing mostly their own songs which are contemporary folk music . A very good concert that brought back many memories from the folk era of the 60’s. Judy and I picked up a couple of their CDs; it’s been a long, long time since we’ve listened to good folk music.

Another Fine Day In The Life. May God Bless - - - - - - - - -

A Regular Day In The Life

2012-01-19T07:10:00.001-06:00

Yesterday was a craft / reading day. Judy worked on her new sock loom while I worked with my new paints. We both have a lot of learning to do, but Judy enjoys knitting with her loom better than she likes the knitting needles and I enjoy working with oils better than the acrylics. We both spent time reading in our Nooks, yesterday afternoon, while sitting back in our nooks (recliners).

Judy whipped up a 15 bean soup (it’s actually called a holiday mix) for our home group dinner last night. Gwen brought a wonderful broccoli corn bread and Susan made a nice Greek olive garden salad. It was all so yummy and good for you.

We were not doing a whole lot, but it was a relaxing day none the less.

Be Sure To Take It Easy and May God Bless - - - - - - -

Being In Love

2012-01-18T06:26:00.001-06:00

I received an email yesterday asking how a snake could be tossed into the outhouse if Aunt Edith was in there with the door locked. To which I can only reply that that hinged entirely on my Uncle’s building skills (or lack thereof). Unk never used a square; he didn’t need a square because he used “that’s close enough” instead. He never used a level since he had his own plumb bob; “Hey, does that look plumb, Bob?” “Aayuh, gutnay morah beeah?” And, he hardly ever used a tape measurer; “Unk do you realize that the back of the outhouse is six inches wider than the front?” “Doesn’t matter, poop (or a word similar to that) runs down hill.” Sixteen inches on center never entered into any of his carpentry projects; he just nailed in a stud wherever it looked like one needed to be added. So, anyway, you get the picture.

Once the privy was completed, there were no boards left that was long enough for the door. So Unk just used what he had on hand leaving a 10” space at the top of the door which he always claimed was for “vent-lating purposes”. That left more than ample room for a three foot garter snake to make his way into the facility (with a little boost, of course). By the way, I think that snake may still be having flashbacks as well. And now you know the rest of the story.

I’m hooked and I’m in love. In love with my new water mixable oil paints, that is. I finally took the time to give them a try and within three minutes had painted this sky picture with clouds. Not perfect but a good first start.

I was fighting the acrylic paints all the way, they would dry out before I was finished painting with them and they just did not spread smoothly or evenly. Although these paints are not as “smooth” as oil paints, they can be thinned with water and cleaned up with soap and water. I really didn’t want to have to mess with odorless turpentine so this is a happy medium for me. Now I’ll sketch out a picture and get to painting; I still have a lot to learn and a long way to go, but now I can enjoy my hobby without getting frustrated.

Judy was busy too. She created this embroidered Valentine’s Day card. My wife has soooo many talents – Beading, Crocheting, Knitting, Quilting, Scrapbooking, etc., etc.. Oh, she’s a great cook, too, if I’d let her get near the stove once in a while.

Be Sure To Tell Them Darrell Sent You and May God Bless - - - - - - - - - - -

We’ve Got Legs

2012-01-17T07:01:00.001-06:00

Ta Da!!!! Landing Gear!!!!

Cutting that access panel was the best idea I’ve had since tossing the three foot garter snake into the outhouse while Aunt Edith was occupying it. That, by the way, gave a whole new meaning to the hit song, “A Little Dance” (without any pants, I might add). It was well worth the punishment that I endured on the backside of that little prank - it’s hard to punish a kid when you’re rolling with laughter. Fortunately for me, the thought that I should be the one to clean up the mess in the outhouse never occurred to anybody. Poor Aunt Edith, I’m not sure she ever fully recovered from that day and think she may still have flashbacks whenever the urge arises to go to the bathroom. (Note here: I don’t really have an Aunt Edith, the name has been changed to protect the victim)

Anyhow, back to the task at hand. It took me less than two hours to pull out the propane tanks, cut the access panel, remove the old leg, grind a 1/16th inch off each bracket, install the new leg, and clean everything up. Just gotta love it when a plan comes together. You’da “thunk” that I “knowed” what I was doing.

Here’s some pictures that I snapped along the way. Put your cursor over them for explanations.

Now all that is left to do to get the legs operational is wire them up. That’ll be a piece of cake. I’ve looked at the wiring diagram and know how the old legs were wired so it’s just a matter of following the “destructions”, but I just might wait until Mikee gets here (it’s been months since he’s had an opportunity to work on one of my projects). After the wiring is completed I’ll need to repair the propane housing. I have a piano hinge so I think I’m going to fabricate a door out of some sheet metal so I can have access to the grease fitting on the new leg. That should be a simple task (keep your eye on the word “should”).

We’re not sure what today has in store. It’s predicted to be a rainy day, just a few showers here and there throughout the day, so it will be mostly indoor activities for us. If she feels up to it, there’s a couple of things taking place at the clubhouse that Judy J. would like to be involved with. I will watch Susan Scheewe and Bob Ross on PBS and try out my new paints – maybe I could recreate the snake in the outhouse scene on canvas. Nah, better not. Anyhow, we’ll just have to see what unfolds as the day progresses.

Take It Easy and God Bless - - - - - - - - - -

Attending The AWS

2012-01-16T07:12:00.001-06:00

Saturday night, just before turning down the sheets, Judy began feeling poorly – like she was coming down with a head cold. I insisted that she take a shot of Nyquil and hit the hay. Well, yesterday morning she woke up real groggy with her head still feeling like a sinus attack was underway.

Being that it was Sunday, we ended up attending the ten o’clock Armchair Worship Service (AWS) in our PJs with a cup of coffee; i.e. tuning in on the internet from our recliners. That is a unique ministry of Church On The Eastern Shore. They broadcast all three services live and in their entirety – 8:30, 10:00, and 11:30. You can watch them by pulling up their website at www.cotes.tv. Now we’d rather be there in person, but whenever we are traveling (or not feeling well) we can “logon” and attend the virtual worship service as long as we have a good internet connection.

As the day progressed, and after a nice hot shower, my bride began to feel a little better. We ventured out for a short visit with Paul and Mary as they are leaving in the morning and we wanted to visit the katts as well as see the “Moose” (their motorhome). Even though they’re leaving the Plantation, they’ll still be in the area for a while so we’ll be having some more outings with them.

At five thirty I went over to the clubhouse for the announcement time (Judy “stood” to home) and joined Paul and Mary, Don and Gloria, and Norm and Linda. More socializing, just what I do best. Next I headed back home to be greeted by my PJs so I donned them quickly (do you see a pattern emerging in my day?). Then Judy and I watched a little more football while doing some reading. A nice peaceful end to a nice Lower Alabama day.

Take It Easy And God Bless - - - - - - - -

One Down, One To Go

2012-01-15T06:56:00.001-06:00

Yesterday turned out to be a nice day to work outside so the “port” leg has been installed into the rig. Ultra-Fab had emailed us a drawing of the their product and I figured the dimensions, however, what they didn’t include on the print was a fillet weld that holds the motor mount plate to the top of the main leg. We need 21.5” from the bottom of the lower stop bracket to the top of the upper stop bracket. The drawing dimensions were correct, but the weld required me to grind about 1/16 of an inch off of each bracket. So, it took a little longer than anticipated to install the leg. Now it’s onto the “starboard” leg which has even less maneuverability space to work in.

Yesterday morning I had made the meatballs, fried up some Italian sausage, and prepared the spaghetti sauce for our evening meal. Judy made some brownies for dessert. Then she went for a walk while I wrestled with the landing gear leg. After her walk she played with her new toy (sock loom). Later in the afternoon you would have found both of us in our recliners reading in our Nooks. One of us checked his eye lids for light leaks (not saying who).

Bois and Natasha, AKA Paul and Mary, (The Great RV Escape and Bullwinkle’s Travels) arrived at Rainbow Plantation around four o’clock and then showed up on our door step with a bottle of wine. We had no choice but to let them in and feed the wayward travelers. It was a great evening of chatting, chewing, and chuckling with the football playoff games playing in the background (with the sound muted). It was nice to get to know Paul and Mary better as it has been a almost a year and a half since we first met them. You meet the nicest people and make the greatest friends in this fulltime RVing lifestyle.

Life Is Good. May God Bless.

A Quiet Day Part II

2012-01-14T06:56:00.001-06:00

Hope y’all having a great Saturday. It’s chilly, chilly, chilly here in LA – 28* this morning. Nuttin’ much happenin’ today. We have plenty of reading material to keep us occupied ‘til the weather warms up. It’s supposed to get up into the high 50’s / low 60’s later today.

I’ve borrowed Gil’s Milwaukee Sawzall and hope to have both legs installed by Monday afternoon. We’re having company for dinner this evening. Judy plans on doing some knitting, Darrell plans on painting a sky with some clouds picture just to see how the new paint medium works, Katie plans on napping the day away, while Alex plans on helping momma with her knitting. Just a routine hang out around the house and putter type of day.

BBFN and God Bless - - - - - - - -

A Quiet Day

2012-01-13T07:50:00.001-06:00

Today is supposed to be a chilly “winter’s day” here in Lower Alabama. Most likely it will be a “stay inside and read” kind of day; although, the sun is rising and it looks peaceful outside even though it is only in the thirties. However, it’s nice inside, especially while sitting in my recliner covered up with my man quilt.

The legs are still waiting to be installed so, if the wind isn’t blowing real hard, I just may spend some time on that project. Yesterday I attempted to put the driver side leg in, but I need to get my hands on a “saws all” to cut away some more sheet metal. Mike and I cut it back when we removed the old leg last spring, but the new leg needs a little more space to slide into place. I’ll also use the saws all to cut the window in the propane tank housing as well.

Yesterday we made a run to Hobby Lobby so Miss Judy could get some yarn for her new toy – the sock loom. So now she can “Sock It To Me, Sock It To Me!!!!”

While we were there, I picked up some new paints. “They” have developed a new medium called water mixable oil paints. I have been entirely unhappy with acrylics because they dry out waaaaay to fast and I’m not a fast painter. Supposedly the water mixable oil paints have the same characteristics of oil paints other than the fact that you can thin them with water and wash up the brushes with soap and water. Also, you can mix them with acrylics which means that I can use up my acrylic paints as well, but that would speed up the drying. We shall see.

Last night we joined with our Rainbow Plantation family for dinner at the clubhouse. Larry made his world famous baked spaghetti casserole with garlic bread, a garden salad, and banana cream pie. It was “Oh So Good!” Andy and Mary Brown, who are friends that we had never met before, joined us at our table. It’s always nice to meet new folks and make new friends – ya can never have enough friends, ya know?

BBFN and God Bless

Up And Out With The Chickens

2012-01-12T07:58:00.001-06:00

We were up and out real early yesterday (but no where near as early as we were in beautiful downtown Campbellsville) to get to the cardiology’s office so that Miss Judy could run on their treadmill. After a chest scan, an echocardiogram, a stress test, another chest scan with an isotope after the stress test, it has been determined that she has a heart and it is in good health. Whew, this could have been a biggie; what a relief. Now, if we can just keep ourselves out of the doctor’s offices for the rest of the year.

The landing legs arrived yesterday afternoon just as promised by UPS. The driver who brought them said no signature was required and he didn’t know why the other driver didn’t leave them. I told him that it was raining and he probably didn’t want to leave the package outside which I appreciated. A two day delivery was still far better than what we’d expected.

Anyhow, I tore into the box like a five year old with a birthday gift and can tell you that they are one good looking set of legs. Now, I just need to get the the old leg on the passenger side outta the coach and then in goes the new legs. Being that it is supposed to be cold and windy today, I will probably only get the driver’s side leg installed – no sense rushing into these things.

Waaaaaaay back on December 30th, we ordered (from Amazon.com) Judy’s new sock loom, an instruction book on using a sock loom, and a new router to replace the head ache we currently have. Well finally all that stuff arrived yesterday – it certainly didn’t take the same route as the Landing Gear took. Judy is happy with her new toy and the verdict is still out on the new router. We are getting good 4G speeds, but we were still getting disconnects last night. Hopefully that will settle out once the router gets itself acclimated. Only time will tell.

This afternoon we “need” to go to Hobby Lobby and/or Michael’s to get some yarn for Judy’s toy. Also, I am not (nor have I ever been) happy with acrylic paints, they dry out waaay tooo fast, so I want to pick up some oil paints which means that I’ll need to get some odorless turpentine as well. Then I should be able to paint just as good as Whistler’s Mother. I’ll still need to acquire some talent, or at least patience, somewhere along the line. Practice, practice, practice.

BBFN and God Bless - - - - - - - - -

Legs, Lunch, And Lounging

2012-01-11T06:03:00.001-06:00

It was a rainy dreary day here in Lower Alabama yesterday, but look what God did before He put the sun away for the day. Dang, why can’t I paint like that!!!! I have everything I need except for the talent (my better half says I have everything except for the patience).

Inconceivable!!! We ordered the Ultra-Fab Electric Landing Legs Monday morning from Amazon.com and they were delivered yesterday afternoon. The only problem? We went to Big Daddy’s for lunch with Jim and Ellie when UPS delivered and the shipper required a return signature so “they” didn’t leave the legs. But, “they” will bring them back today between 10:30 and 2:00. Hopefully we’ll be home from Miss Judy’s medical tests – she’s getting an echocardiogram and a stress test at the cardiologist’s office in Fairhope.

Jim and Ellie picked us up at quarter to one to go to Big Daddy’s for lunch. Big Daddy’s has a great little lunch menu with baskets at nine bucks and sandwiches at six bucks. Believe it or not, Big Daddy’s makes one heck of a Philly sandwich served with your choice of onion rings, French fries, or sweet potato fries (and they don’t skimp on the fries/rings either). Jim and Ellie are getting ready to haul anchor and shove off on Friday so this was our last outing with them this trip, but we look forward to catching up with them in the Texas Hill Country this coming March.

We had planned to go to the clubhouse for an evening with Chuck Stevens who sings Frank Sinatra and Barry Manilow music. But, we decided to don our PJ’s and hunker down for the evening instead – that would have been waaay too much stimulation for us in one day. Besides, we needed to get an early start this morning and be out of the house no later than 6:45 for Judy’s doctor appointment. A subsequent email from Norm and Linda said that Sunday evening’s “show” was one of the best ever at the Plantation and last night’s “show” was even better raising the bar on a new standard.

Bye Bye For Now And God Bless - - - - - - - - - -

The Clincher

2012-01-10T06:39:00.001-06:00

Finally, after a lot of hemming and hawing, we ordered the new Landing Gear System. What did we settle on? Well, the new Atwood system came with everything except the motor and that means that our old motor, which is now six years old with ?? number of hours of use on it, would become the weak link in the system. And being that a new motor is around $180 dollars, that clinched the deal. We decided it would be more prudent to get a whole new system rather than to fool around with any used parts. So, drum roll please, we ordered the Ultra-Fab Electric Drive Landing Gear system.

The price had increased from $453 to $464, but that’s because it is a newer version which is capable of handling up to 12,000 pounds (the older version only handled 8,000 pounds). Either system is way over kill for us since we are less than 4,000 pounds of tongue weight, but it comes with two drive motors and eliminates the cross bar in the forward compartment that I always bump my head on when getting “stuff” out or putting “stuff” away. Plus, each leg operates independently and will assist in side to side leveling. Further, it is only $107 more than the Atwood system which makes it actually $73 less than an Atwood system with a new motor.

Now I need to get busy cutting an access window in the propane tank housing and figure out how I’m going to make up 3/8” difference on the top mounting bracket and the bracket stop. If I have patience (I’m not known for that), I’ll wait for my electrician (Mikee) to show up to wire the up the system. Oh yes, I’ll need to install a new “console” to mount the switches on. Hopefully everything will go just as slick as light snow on smooth ice, but there’s many a slip between the cup and the lip.

Judy went to the doctor’s office yesterday morning for her annual checkup and has to have more tests run which were scheduled for tomorrow morning at 0715. We think that the results will be just fine, but ya gotta go through the drill none the less. While she was gone, Darrell did a “deep” vacuuming job on the house. That means that he broke out both the upright vacuum (which does a better job on the carpeting) and the central vac attachments (which does better around the baseboards and on the ceramic floors).

Ray and Pat arrived at around 1700 hours and we had a great visit. The eight bean soup (which is actually called a holiday soup mix) was wonderful. Judy had to “doctor up” the recipe just a little which made the soup just plain yummy, yummy, yummy. We had crackers and cheese as an appetizer, raspberry squares for dessert, and wine to wash it all down. But, as always, it was the time spent with great friends that made the evening the best.

Rain has set in for the next couple of days, but we still have some outings on the docket so be sure to check in tomorrow to see what kind of mischief we got into.

Good Bye For Now And God Bless - - - - - - - - - -

An Evening At The Pops

2012-01-09T06:56:00.001-06:00

Well, not exactly the Pops, but Branson comes to Rainbow Plantation. Denny Yeary, who sang for 27 years with the Blackwoods, performed for us last night at the Clubhouse. We don’t know how it all came to be, but he is doing a tour of the southeast and somehow landed at Rainbow Plantation for the evening and we’re glad he did.

He has such a bass voice that he can hit notes lower than the bottom of my grandfather’s well. He sang old time country songs with some gospel music thrown in for good measure. His rendition of “Ring of Fire” was better than Johnny Cash sang it. It was a good little concert and it was fun to spend some time with our Plantation neighbors.

Other than that, church, a nap, and a couple of episodes of West Wing filled our day. Just a laid back kind of Sunday ending with the Ice Cream Social and the Yeary concert.

Judy has a doctor’s appointment this morning and crocheting this afternoon. I don’t have a dang thing on the agenda, but will order the landing gear (still haven’t decided which one – don’t want to rush into these things) and shampoo the living room rug (it’s beginning to look a little scroungy).

We are having Ray and Pat over for dinner this evening so Judy is going to make a special eight bean soup recipe – it’s “oh so good”! That along with some home made yeast rolls bought at Walmart, raspberry squares, and a little wine will make it a real fine meal. Yes, the RV live style is about traveling, but the best part of it is the people you meet and the friends you make along the way. We may have mentioned that once or twice before.

Here are a couple of pictures taken this very morning – “Pink Sky In The Morning . . . .”

Take It Easy And May God Bless - - - - - - - -

Just A Short Entry Today

2012-01-08T06:21:00.001-06:00

Yesterday was a super day with the sun shining and the temperatures in the 70’s; just the way we like it. Judy did some sewing and I did some painting. We both went for a walk and talk. Later in the afternoon we did some reading. In the evening we watched a couple of episodes of West Wing and then watched a little bit of the debate – pathetic, is this the best and the brightest among us? If so, we are in a heap of trouble.

This morning is church, this afternoon is football, this evening is ice cream and music – just our typical Sunday. So that’s about it for now.

Take It Easy And May God Bless - - - - - - - - -

“Taking A Trip And Never Leaving The Farm”

2012-01-07T07:55:00.001-06:00

So, Judy and I did a “virtual” trip yesterday reviewing the proposed stops/campgrounds, length of stay, etc. of our proposed travel plans. The purpose was to put dollars and “sense” to our travels and validate it against our 2012 budget. We were able to finalize the budget and are happy to report that “all systems are go!!” for the 2012 travel plans that we outlined yesterday. Keep in mind, they are still carved in putty and subject to change at any whim.

I’ve, also, been doing further research on the landing leg issue. The only conclusions that I can draw, after speaking with the “professionals”, is that the current system is either undersized for its application or the driver leg is a defective part (our rig seems to have attracted several defective parts during the manufacturing cycle).

After a stroll around the park looking at legs (fifthwheel legs, not the ladies) I determined that most units use either the Venture system that we have or the Atwood system. The “higher end” units such as Newmar, Hitch Hiker, and so forth use the Atwood system while the mid range units have the Venture.

Dick and Jody’s Cypress is two thousand pounds heavier than our Cedar Creek and uses the Atwood heavy duty system which we can purchase online for $327. The option of only purchasing an Atwood Driver Leg is still a possibility. After considerable research I was able to ensure that the gearing is the same in both the Venture and the Atwood systems. That would be the easy way out, but do we want a mismatched system? Decisions, decisions – but, this morning, we are leaning toward the Atwood Heavy Duty system (however, I really like that Ultra-Fab system, but it would require some modifications to install).

Today Judy is going to play with her quilting project while I spread some paint around on canvas. I’ve sketched a scene onto a canvas board and want to try my hand at painting once again. Bob Ross inspires me to add some “happy” little clouds and trees into the painting as well as some rocks and bushes that “live right about here”. So that should keep the two of us busy for a couple of hours, then we can sit back and read some more or just hold hands and gaze into each other’s eyes for awhile.

So Long For Now And May God Bless - - - - - - - -

Just Doing What We Do

2012-01-06T07:12:00.001-06:00

Yesterday was craft day. Judy went to her quilting/sewing group in the morning and I went to a painting class in the afternoon. Judy will continue with her quilting group, but I won’t be going back to the painting class – it isn’t what I’m looking for at this time. I borrowed a couple of books on the subject from the library and will continue watching Susan Scheewe and Bob Ross on PBS.

Jim and Ellie invited us over for a chat and chew. Ellie prepared a wonderful chicken casserole and salad while Jim donned his apron and prepared a yummy Georgia Peach Cake (an Uncle Bubba’s special). Bo cuddled up next to Judy and indulged himself in all the attention he could muster up while Jasmine made her presence known by hopping up into my lap for some loving. It was another great evening with great food and delightful conversation. Thanks guys, we’re looking forward to a couple more “get togethers” with Jim and Ellie before they pull up anchor.

Judy and I have been finalizing our 2012 budget and travel plans. Right now we a planning a trip to the hill country area of Texas with Mike and Peggy in March. Then in April we’ll begin heading slowly north with stops in Murfreesboro, TN (grand kid fix) and Asheville, NC on our way to Alexandria, VA (Mary and Joel). We’ll be in New Hampshire (grand kid fix) and Maine sometime in mid to late May.

Then we’ll turn west in June heading for Michigan for our workamping gig in Petoskey (June 10 to October ?). We’ll be staying with Ray and Pat for a few days in Mecosta, MI before returning to Murfreesboro (another grand kid fix) and return to Summerdale by way of the Natchez Trace Parkway. This is a rough outline which is carved in putty subject to change at any time.

Take It Easy Until Next Time - - - - - - - -

The Easy Way Out?

2012-01-05T06:51:00.001-06:00

It turned out to be a magnificent day with the temperatures reaching 55* by noon time. After lunch I decided to pull the driver side landing gear leg and take some measurements. After removing the top cover on the Main Leg it was obvious that the gears had stripped. This is not good as I have no idea why last spring the shaft broke and now the gears have stripped. The system is rated for 5000# (2500# per leg). The tongue weight of our coach is around 3100# which means approximately 1600# per leg. But something is certainly rotten in the state of Denmark!!!

Further research has turned up an Atwood Driver Jack Leg that we could purchase for $137.50. The dimensions of that leg are a close enough match that it would be a one for one swap. The Atwood leg would ride 3/16” higher than the Venture leg, but all the other dimensions line up. I could compensate for the 3/16” when aligning the two legs. This would be the easy way out, but since I don’t know why it’s stripping gears and breaking shafts I’m not sure if this route would eliminate the problem?

Ultra-Fab forwarded me a print of their landing legs. In checking the dimensions of the Venture landing leg with the Ultra-Fab leg, I determined that the Ultra-Fab would work with one slight modification. This system is rated for 8000# (4000# per leg), with two drive motors (one on each leg). It sells for $453 through Amazon.com. It will take quite a bit of work to get the passenger side leg out of the coach and require me to cut an opening in the propane tank housing to gain access (then I’d have to fabricate a cover for the opening once the new leg is installed).

Of course, we could always just purchase a new set of gears and install them into the existing leg, but the same question remains. Would that eliminate the problem or would we just end up in Timbuktu with another landing gear failure?

Here’s a picture of the culprit leg so you can get an idea of what I am talking about. If you look closely, you’ll see the shaft at the top left and the two stop blocks on the left side of the leg. The black square tube is the “main leg” that bolts onto the frame of the coach. The gears are inside the “main leg” at the top.

This has been a lot of technical stuff that all the guys want to know about, but most women could care less about it. So, for you ladies, my bride has all sorts of fabric stuff strewed all over the dining room table and is getting ready to put thread to needle. She’s working on a quilting challenge project that the ladies of the quilting group drew material for last spring. Each lady drew three different fabrics out of a bag and has to design, cut out, and sew together a mystery quilting project. The winner gets to have her picture made and put into the clubhouse activities photo book.

We will include pictures of the finished product once it is completed. It’s a secret right now and even I don’t know what my bride is making. The whole dining room table will be covered by a white canvas tent pretty soon so this is the only picture that will be seen of the project (or Judy) until it comes out of the tent in about a month .

Take It Easy Until Next Time - - - - - - -

Volunteering and Researching

2012-01-04T07:15:00.001-06:00

What a great ministry, the Hope Center provides medical care for uninsured and low income people. There are certainly a lot of people that need a hand up, especially in this current economy. Most of the patients that came in yesterday had been to the clinic before, however, the Evangelism Team volunteers still take time to visit with them, prior to the doctor, and pray with them. There were a few that it was their first time to the clinic and two of them accepted the Lord as their savior. The Hope Center has a chaplain who follows up on patient visits and works toward getting new converts plugged into a church. Judy and I are going to enjoy volunteering at the Hope Center.

I called Atwood yesterday to get information on the dimensions of their direct drive landing gear legs. The good news is that there is an “industry stand” for mounting landing gear legs on fifthwheels which means that their legs should fit into our stop block brackets. The bad news is that Atwood is very, very proud of their legs – they charge almost $1,600 for the set. That’s the same price as HWH’s hydraulic system with four levelers. Further research has turned up an Ultra-Fab system for $400 to $450, so I have an email inquiry into them to verify the dimensions. In the meantime I will continue to research the issue to see what other solutions may be hiding out there.

The old temps dropped down to 30* this morning, but that was the end of the artic express. Today it will get up into the 60’s and only drop down into the 40’s overnight. By Saturday we’ll see temps back in the 70’s so, hooray for our team; we’re looking forward to that. I’m waiting for warmer weather before I lay on my back under the rig pulling its leg .

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - -

Getting a Leg Up

2012-01-03T07:56:00.001-06:00

Well, we no longer live in an RV but a mobile home on blocks. The landing gear is free and guess what? It works perfectly when there is no weight on the legs. After considerable research, I think we are moving toward a solution. I’m hoping to replace the cheap Venture system with Atwood’s direct drive landing legs. Each leg has its own drive motor and would assist in leveling as well as raising and lowering the coach. Once I get the driver side landing leg out and take some measurements I’ll be able to determine if the Atwood system will work. It all comes down to the dimension between stop block brackets that are welded to the frame of the coach.

Other than that, I was able to take care of the commode issue. With rubber gloves, a scrubbing pad sponge, and some Bar Keeper’s Friend I was able to clean the gasket and the toilet now holds water once again. Bar Keeper’s Friend was recommended to us by a Sealand customer service rep for cleaning the bowl. It can be purchased at Walmart in the detergent/cleansers section (generally found in the “A” bin – bottom shelf) and costs about a buck forty.

Judy and I did some household chores for the rest of the morning. Judy attended the crocheting/knitting group at the clubhouse yesterday afternoon while I did my landing leg research. Then we did some relaxing and reading. Santa brought us the entire West Wing series for Christmas (one of our favorite television shows of all time) so we spent last evening watching a couple of episodes of West Wing – finally something decent on television with no commercials.

This morning Judy is off getting her blood work done. I plan to defrost the refrigerator (it’s too cold to work outside on the landing gear today). This afternoon we are volunteering at the Hope Center at church. The Hope Center provides medical, dental, and counseling services to low income and/or no health insurance families. Doctors, nurses, counselors, and administrative personnel volunteer their time to provide the services. Judy will be volunteering in the office while I will be part of the Evangelism Team that does the intake portion of patient visits.

So that is the state of the affairs at Patterson household this third day of twenty twelve. Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - -

Let The Good Times Roll

2012-01-02T07:08:00.001-06:00

We wrapped up the old year with Jim, Ellie, Randy, and Terry. Judy made her world famous lasagna, I prepared a salad, Ellie made up some garlic bread, and Terry brought a sweet bread. Jim brought his portable bar (a cooler full of beer) and we just hung out chatting, chewing, and chuckling away 2011. We made it to the fulltime RVers midnight (nine o’clock – it was twelve o’clock somewhere) before the yawns began to roll in. Randy and Terry managed to hang on until 10:00, but they were “hitting the road” on Sunday heading for their workamping gig so needed to get home and hit the hay.

We spent the first day of the year with friends; first at church and later at the clubhouse. Throughout the coastal South, eating Hoppin’ John on New Year’s Day is thought to bring a prosperous year filled with luck. Hoppin’ John is a rice and black eyed pea dish with bacon or ham and spices. We put some raw onions, jalapeno peppers, and Texas Pete on it as well (well, I did – Judy went with the mild version using some salsa instead). Anyhow, we’re looking forward to “a prosperous year filled with luck”.

Today I plan to get the front of the RV up on blocks (anyone know where I can get a couple of junk cars?). It’s time to address the landing gear problem. Once I get the “road side” landing gear leg out, we can make our decision of what the fix will be – either overhaul the existing system or replace it. To be honest with you, I’m leaning toward replacing it. I don’t like the way system was manufactured in the first place and can only see more problems in the future, but I will be able to be more objective once I know what the issue really is.

Judy will begin her basket weaving endeavors at the clubhouse today. I’m not sure when I’ll see her again, but at least I’ll know where to find her. There is sooooo much going on at the clubhouse that one could easily keep busy all day everyday. Judy wants to attend line dancing, quilting, beading, and knitting/crocheting, just to mention a few. I’ve signed up for a painting class as well. We’ll keep busy, that’s for sure.

No matter what, we are planning to take it real slow and easy. Rome wasn’t built in a day, you know (but I wasn’t the project manager on that job either). We want to take time to work a little and rest a lot each day; after all, we’re supposed to be retired and sitting in a rocking chair is part of that scenario. Plus, we have lots and lots of reading to catch up on. In any event, it’s just nice to be home again.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - - -

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T06:42:00.001-06:00

We’ll be beginning the New Year by worshipping our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. What a better way to start a year than by getting our focus in the right place? We wish you a healthy, prosperous, and happy two thousand and twelve.

Happy New Year, Everyone !!!

Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot

2011-12-31T07:51:00.001-06:00

What can I say. Another year, another year older. Why is it that each year seems to get shorter? Twenty-eleven flew past faster than twenty-ten which flew past faster than twenty-oh-nine which flew past faster than twenty-oh-eight, etc.. At this pace it won’t be long before we start celebrating back to back New Year’s Eves.

In any event, it’s time to say good bye to one year and welcome in the next. We don’t really celebrate the event any longer, we got tired of waking up on the first day of the new year wondering who we were or what embarrassing thing we did the night before. Also, it was a drag spending the first day of the new year being sick with self induced illnesses.

So now we just gather around with a few friends, have some appetizers, a little wine, a dinner, say “fare thee well” to the old year at around nine o’clock, turn the page on the calendar, and hit the hay. When the sun rises we wake up alert and feeling great – a much nicer start to the new year.

Twenty eleven was a good year for us. We began the year here at Rainbow Plantation enjoying the fine fellowship of our RVing family and our church family in the Summerdale area. We hit the road in April spending time with our grand children in Tennessee and then making our way to Maine. Our stay in Maine lasted three months this year with the first week in Topsham repairing our landing gear.

Then we spent six weeks workamping at Wild Duck Campground where we got to worship with our old church family in Freeport. After that stint, we moved back to the Fairgrounds in Topsham where Randy and Terry joined Mike and Peggy and us for a week of frolicking along the coast line while the six of us attempted to eat all of Maine’s seafood.

Next it was onto Belfast where we spent another four weeks with my brother Mike and his wife Shauna. Marc and Amie joined us for a family vacation where we continued frolicking along Maine’s rugged coast. Then it was onto Virginia with stops in New Hampshire for a grand kid fix, Connecticut for a visit with my aunt and cousins, and Pennsylvania to visit with Randy and Terry.

Mary and Joel have a nice place in Alexandria, Virginia where we joined them for a couple of outings – one to old Alexandria and the other to the Mall in Washington, D.C.. From there we turned northwest to spend a month in Michigan where we visited with Judy’s sister in Holly, her brother in the Petoskey area, and Ray and Pat in Mecosta. Our oldest son lives in Grand Rapids so we had several visits with him as well.

We returned to the Plantation by way of Tennessee (for another grand child fix) at the end August for some doctor’s appointments. Then the idea of workamping at Amazon.com was hatched so we pulled up stakes and headed to beautiful downtown Campbellsville, Kentucky in early November. We finished the year by spending Christmas with our children and grand children in Murfreesboro, Tennessee before making our way home to Rainbow Plantation to usher in the New Year.

We wish you all a very -

Happy New Year

What’s That I Hear?

2011-12-30T06:22:00.001-06:00

We’re beginning to pick up right where we left off eight weeks ago. Yesterday Jim, Ellie, Randy, Terry, Judy, and I headed for Big Daddy’s for lunch. To our surprise, Big Daddy’s is closed for maintenance/renovations and will not be opened again until January 3rd. Oh, oh!! What now?

There is a restaurant that we’ve been meaning to try, and have been told that it was good, but we had just not gotten there yet. So, we made a bee line to Kraver’s (well, a bee line with a left and a right turn in it). It was a good little drive and Jim thought that we were going to have to stop for lunch along the way. But the food was good; it’s not Big Daddy’s, however, it will certainly do in a pinch.

Other than that excursion, house cleaning was the order of the day. The poor house looks like the Poor House. We’ve been slack in our household chores over the past few weeks. Why, while we were w*rking there was a four day period that the bed never got made. That’s almost the unpardonable sin in the eyes of my bride. Anyway, the house got a good sweeping and vacuuming, but the more we cleaned the more we found that needs to be cleaned. This is gonna take some time folks.

The weather around the Gulf has been fantastic. Blue skies with the sun shining and temps in the sixties – heading for seventies today and tomorrow. Just the way we like our winter weather – over medium. Today I start washing the rig but, what’s that I hear? Do I hear the beach calling? I think I might!!! Go ahead, twist my arm. With Nook and lawn chairs in hand, what could be better? Oh yes, need some iced tea as well.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - - - -

A Little Nostalgia

2011-12-29T07:00:00.001-06:00

Settling in was agenda item number one. Relaxing was agenda item number two. Both items got crossed off the list. Pat was able to repair the furnace, the problem was several bad connector issues on the board. A little cleaning and a little Vaseline took care of the problem. The clothesline was attached to the back of the coach, a load of clothes was washed, a little more leveling was accomplished, the tripod was attached to the coach hitch, and a quick trip to Wally World rounded out the settling in portion of the day. Lunch, a quick katt nap, recliner time, and reading rounded out the relaxing portion of the agenda. Mission accomplish!!!

Judy has been talking about knitting some socks. She saw a knitting accessory that she’s thinking of getting to make knitted socks on. Knitted socks brought back many memories to my mind. Our mom used to knit us wool socks for the winter back when Darry and Mickey were just boys.

Back in the mid fifties it was not uncommon to have feet (not inches) of snow on the ground for Thanksgiving. You know, “Over the river and through the woods . . . . . the horse knows the way to carry the sleigh” type of thing (that was a Thanksgiving time song for us when we were kids). Anyhow, come September you’d find mom knitting away while the family was gathered around the television set in the evening watching Ed Sullivan, or Gunsmoke, or Sky King, or Sea Hunt, or Rawhide, or Perry Mason, or whatever; you get the picture – a pure Happy Days scene. Mom would knit us boys a half dozen grey wool socks with red tops to wear inside our olive green “gum rubber” boots. Plus, she knitted us several pairs of spruce green mittens as well.

Now let’s take a minute here to describe the wardrobe of the typical 6 to 12 year old living in Belfast, Maine during the winter of nineteen hundred and fifty-five. First, after rolling out of bed with your feet hitting the ice cold floor, you’d grab your socks. These were your regular everyday socks. Next, after you stripped away your PJs, you’d slip on your underwear, jockey shorts and your short sleeved tee shirt. Then came the “long handles” or “long Johns”; i.e. long underwear – long pants and long sleeved shirt. You’d grab your spruce green wool pants and a nice flannel or wool shirt to round out the ensemble.

Breakfast was followed by preparations for going outside to play in the “door yard” (a Maine term meaning the yard just outside the back door where play would be conducted). The preparations would consist of the aforementioned grey wool socks with the red tops and the olive green gum rubber boots. Then came the winter parka with a hood and the fake fur around the facial opening and the spruce green mittens. Finally a knitted wool scarf (made by the loving hands of grandma) was wrapped around our necks leaving nothing but our eyes bugging out. By then, we were totally unable to move so mom would carry us outside and place us in a snow bank that had accumulated in the “door yard” overnight. “You kids stay in the door yard and play, ye ‘ear?” After a couple of hours she’d come back out and carry us back inside to begin the shedding process.

We can’t stop here, because there is more nostalgia to this little picture. Once back inside, Darry and Mickey had a clever little boot jack that would assist in taking the olive green gum rubber boots off of our feet. This was a neat little device in which you’d place the heal of your boot into the opened end while standing on the other end with your other foot and just pull your foot out of the boot. Slick as a whistle.

Olive green gum rubber boots did not breath thereby causing one’s feet to sweat a great deal so another device that was needed in the 1955 home was the “boot tree”. The “boot tree” was a rack that would hold several pairs of olive green gum rubber boots upside-down so that they could be placed over a heat register to dry out during the night. The knitted wool grey socks with red tops and knitted wool spruce green mittens would be laid out on top of the boots to dry as well. Both of these items (the boot jack and the boot tree) were fabricated by dad in his wood shed (we have some not so fond memories of that wood shed, but we won’t go into that here).

One last thing about the mittens. The mittens came in two varieties, with or without a string attached. Younger kid’s mittens had a string that attached the two mittens. That would keep the child from losing one or both of his/her mittens. You’d take one of the mittens and fish it up one sleeve of the parka and out the other sleeve thereby keeping the mittens intact with the parka. Now this was really cool ‘cause you could talk into your left hand and listen with your right hand. Or, if you saw a kid with stringed mittens, you could pull his right mitten and he’d hit himself in the face with his left hand. Aah the fifties, ya gotta love it.

Well, there ya have it. A little nostalgia from a retired baby boomer about winter life in Maine during the mid twentieth century. And, Judy’s “fixinto” to knit some socks. We’ll keep ya posted.

Oh, by the way. Here’s a picture of nap time from yesterday afternoon. Note the stylish head warmer. This conjures up another fond memory from the fifties which was the Davy Crockett coon skin cap, but we’ll save that for another time.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - -

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

2011-12-28T07:28:00.001-06:00

It was an uneventful trip home, just the way we like it. It took us eight and a half hours to make the trip, that’s including stops. It generally takes us fifteen to twenty minutes less time to make it south – must be because it’s down hill . We were home by 3:30 receiving an East Traveler Street welcome home by our neighbors – that’s always a nice touch, makes you feel loved.

Randy and Terry took pity on us tired vagabonds and fed us a wonderful Italian meal – it was yummy and good that we didn’t have to cook. We most likely would have just had a Fluffernutter sandwich or something like that. Spending time with Randy and Terry was a perfect ending to a nice uneventful travel day.

Today we’ll be getting settled in. Already made arrangements with Pat to come and tune (fix) the furnace. He’ll be here this morning. That means that I’ll have to pull out the stairs, that I just reworked, in order to get access to the furnace.

Other than that, it’s relax, relax, relax that’s what’s on our radar screen. We’ve got some reading to catch up on and we have some recliner time built up to use. We think that we’ll contact Randy and Terry and Jim and Ellie to see if they’d be interested in going to Big Daddy’s for lunch. Big Daddy’s has a wonderful Philly sandwich that’s calling my name.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - - -

Then There Were Seven

2011-12-27T05:02:00.001-06:00

Okay, so here’s the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me!! The Bible tells us not to swear by God so I’m not going to, but I’m “fixinto” to tell you the “rest of the story”.

Miss Judy and I retired for the night at seven PM on Christmas Day. After our w*rking gig, getting ready for Christmas, and spending eight hours with our Grand Kids for Christmas (keep in mind that they were very, very good, but wound up none the less) we were “done in”. Because of our early retirement, we were up at 0530 yesterday morning – our bodies have not adjusted to the Central Time Zone or the none w*rking environment so that’s not exactly sleeping in, ya know?

So why the late post yesterday morning. Well the following paragraphs appeared in yesterday’s blog right after the paragraph about our Christmas dinner and just before the paragraph about wrapping up 2011 - - - -

“Now, the highlight of the day was the video that Matt and Jackie made. It had a Catia, a Kalina, and a Radek section and ended with the “Parents vs. Kids War” which was a preview of coming attractions – coming in August of 2012 will be child number four.

Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are children born in one’s youth.
Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them. PSA 127.4-5

So this will be Grand Child number seven. And to think, that Darrell and Judy’s job is to spoil all these smiling little faces. Tough job, but someone has to do it!! It’s a good thing that we’re still young enough to be up to the task.”

When the editor, Miss Judy, reviewed the blog for errors, typos, and false information (not that I’d ever include any of that), she informed me that we couldn’t publish on the chance that Grandpa Mike and Grandma Sheila hadn’t seen Matt and Jackie’s video yet (Sheila is a blog follower). So, we held off for awhile trying to determine if they had seen the video or not. Being that we couldn’t confirm that that event had taken place, we deleted the above paragraphs and published late claiming that we had slept in (the editor missed that little piece of misinformation – I just love it when I can slip one past the editor). So there you have it – “the rest of the story”.

Yesterday turned out to be another shopping day, this time for Catia’s seventh birthday which is on Friday. We were successful with “one stop shopping” at Kohl’s. After “bagging” the perfect birthday gifts, we did a drive by of an senior condominium complex. It’s not officially a 55+ community, however, most of the residents all have gray hair. It’s a nice quiet little neighborhood, but we’ve not decided whether Murfreesboro has the “It Factor” or not.

After that, we stopped by the kids house to say good bye to them and the Grand Kids, went to Demo’s for Lupper, fueled up the truck, came home and packed away all the Christmas decorations, and hooked the RV up to the truck for an early get away this morning. We plan on driving straight through and want to be “home” before dark.

So, tomorrow we’ll be coming to you from Rainbow Plantation in Summerdale, Alabama – Yay! We’ll be joining Randy and Terry for a travel day meal this evening and then begin settling in for a long winter’s nap.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - -

Lazy, Lazy Daze

2011-12-26T07:06:00.001-06:00

I’m going to lie to you and tell you we were lazy this morning that’s why a late post, but I will tell you the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth tomorrow – so stay tuned.

‘Twas a wonderful day. We arrived at Matt and Jackie’s at seven o’clock sharp just to be met at the door by two wide eyed little girls. “Grandma, Grandpa, where were you?” “Santa’s been here!!!” “We’re ready to open presents.” “Did Santa bring you any?” “Nah, Grandma’s been naughty this year.”

Well, you can only imagine the excitement. We took pictures, but they were all just a blur – it’s hard to get a seven year old, a three year old, and an eighteen month old to pose when they are filled with sugar and excitement and opening presents. Matt did well to contain them and they took turns opening gifts. It took about two hours to “have the tree” and, believe me, the tree was had.

Then it was onto breakfast followed by “some assembly required” time. “Grandpa, can you open this for me?” I can personally tell you that some toy manufacturers do not want any toys escaping from their packages. My goodness, after using a hammer, chisel, pliers, and a hack saw, Matt and I were able to get most of the toys free (the ones we couldn’t will just have to go back to the store and most likely never be missed).

Radek was so awestruck that he didn’t know what to play with first. He would go from one thing to another without even taking time to play with anything. Kalina wasn’t much better. She’d hoard her “stuff” and try to play with Radek’s. Catia, being a refined seven year old, just knew that Tangled needed to get Untangled so she started with baby Repunzel.

Jackie made a wonderful pot roast dinner while Judy had made a Jell-o fruit salad along with an apple pie and a pumpkin pie. We had Christmas candy, fudge, mincemeat cookies, sugar cookies, and mixed nuts to nibble on throughout the day.

We hope that all of you had a wonderful Christmas day as well. Now it’s onto New Year’s – unbelievable, we’re heading for twenty twelve and here I am still looking forward to Y2K.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - - - -

A Christmas Wish

2011-12-24T06:57:00.001-06:00

Merry Christmas To All!

“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:11-14 NIV

Later this afternoon we will join together with Matt, Jackie, Catia, Kalina, and Radek for our traditional Christmas Eve Pizza. Then we’ll attend Christmas Eve services at the World Outreach Church. Early Christmas morning will find us gathered around the Christmas Tree enjoying the excitement of three little Grand Children. Children are a blessing from the Lord but Grand Children are the rewards of having survived parenthood.

In the midst of all the festivities, we’ll take time to reflect on God’s Greatest Gift to all mankind. We are thankful for all of you, our RVing family. Since we are taking tomorrow off from blogging, we will take this opportunity to wish you a very blessed Christmas.

In His Love,

Darrell, Judy, Katie, and Alex

The Day Before The Day Before Christmas

2011-12-23T07:14:00.001-06:00

All the Christmas gifts have been purchased, wrapped, shipped, and are where they are supposed to be. Today Miss Judy wants to go shopping for a new pair of dress up casual slacks. What better time to do that then the day before the day before Christmas. We’ll head on over to the J. C. Penney store in the mall at Mt. Juliet. While over that way, we’ll stop by our bank to drop off a boat load of money (yeah, right) that we accumulated from the Amazon Fulfillment and Spa Center in beautiful downtown Campbellsville.

Then what’s on the agenda for the rest of the day? Who knows!! Most likely getting all the goodies together for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, a few household chores, some relaxing, and some reading in our Nooks.

Last night we baby sat for our three adorable Grand Kids while their parents went out to dinner and did some final Christmas Shopping. They are such good little kids, can’t imagine why Katie and Alex have a hissy fit whenever they visit. Radek is the youngest with two older sisters – he’s very, very good at being a younger brother. He doesn’t take any guff from either of his sisters; actually, if there is any guff to be handed out, he’ll be the one handing it out. But they were very good for G-pa and G-ma – we (G-ma) only had to referee a half dozen fights . Nah, not our Grand Kids; really, they were very good.

The past two years when we’ve been here for Christmas the temperatures have dipped below freezing. Not so this year with the lows in the forties and the highs in the 50’s / low 60’s. No complaints with that, however, it did rain all day yesterday, but that worked out just fine for us. Katie and Alex were just plain ecstatic to have Mom and Dad at home all day. Alex enjoyed helping with the Christmas present wrapping marathon (I’m not so sure how much enjoyment mom got out of it).

We’re slowly getting acclimated to Central Time once again. It’s nice to sleep in in the morning and stay up a little later at night – heck we didn’t go to bed until after ten o’clock last night and slept through until six this morning. It was nice to wake up naturally with Alex prancing up and down across our bodies rather than an alarm clock scaring the daylights into us.

Well, as you can tell, we’re just hanging out waiting for Ol’ Saint Nick to make his rounds so we can celebrate Jesus’ birth with our family – two more sleeps!! Again, in all of our busyness, let’s take time to reflect on the real reason for the season. The best gift of all has already been given, heaven has been secured, the Devil has been defeated, and a new earth is being established. We’ve read the last chapter of the Bible and Jesus wins!!!

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - -

‘Tis The Season To Be Jolly

2011-12-22T06:53:00.001-06:00

While w*rking at the Amazon Fulfillment and Spa Center in beautiful downtown Campbellsville, we acquired fifty dollars worth of gift cards for Kroger’s so yesterday we did our Christmas holiday food shopping. We like Kroger’s even though it’s a little more pricey than Wally World. They have quality meats and produce and their “Select Private” brand ice cream isn’t bad either.

Anywhoo, today is a marathon prepare for Christmas day. There’s fudge to make, mince meat cookies to make, banana bread to make, and Christmas gifts to wrap. The weather dudes are babbling about a 100% chance of heavy rain today so we gathered all the needed “stuff” into the house yesterday so we can just stay in our PJs and play inside all day long. Now I’ll help, but most likely will be told that my best help will be to keep out from under foot and to keep Alex occupied (he just loves to “help” Momma with her projects).

All the gifts for the Kids and Grand Kids afar have been wrapped and shipped, but what remains are the gifts for the Murfreesboro brood. So Santa’s little elves (or maybe I should say Elf Judy) will finish up the task, load the sleigh, and set it underway for the Christmas Tree.

It’s been very quiet here at Cedars of Lebanon State Park. There are only five RVs in the entire park. We have no neighbors nearby and the katts just love sitting on the back of the sofa watching the squirrels and crows as they do what ever it is that they do. Both of them have been extremely loving, wanting to be held and petted. They really, really, really like having Dad and Mom around the house. They’re are no longer antsy, but nice and relaxed.

Well, ho, ho, ho!! ‘Tis the season to be jolly and we’re looking forward to a laid back jolly day.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - -

It’s All About Grand Kids

2011-12-21T06:45:00.001-06:00

Wow, are we out of sync with the “real” time. After leaving beautiful downtown Campbellsville it was only a matter of a few miles before we crossed back into Central Time. That means that we gained an hour but it gets darker a whole hour earlier here in Lebanon, Tennessee than we are used to. Plus, with the hours we were keeping (in bed by eight and up at four), we’re all messed up. Add to that a w*rk week that ran from Friday to Monday we don’t even know what day it is. Good thing we have a day clock to straighten us out.

The final act of hitching up and pulling out is to put in the slides. The bedroom slide came in, the entertainment center slide came in, but the main slide wouldn’t budget. “Oh Shucks!!!!” (or something like that) I told my bride to try it again and I’d push on it a little to see if that would get things started – nothing. As a last effort I shut the hydraulic valves off to the other two slides and told Judy to push the button to extend the main slide. She did that and the slide moved outward about a half inch. Then I told her to go ahead and see if it would come in. It worked, in came the slide. “Phew!!” What a relief.

It took us about two hours and forty-five minutes to make the trip and the rain held off until we got positioned in our site. I used the bottle jacks to raise up the front of the RV to level, dropped the leveling leg extenders, and lowered the rig onto the leveling legs. Then I released the air from the air bags on the truck which lowered the truck bed low enough to drive out from under the rig. It really wasn’t as much work as I had envisioned and buying a second bottle jack proved to be a good idea.

The Katts are happy to have their Dad and Mom back. They seem so much more relaxed here in Cedars of Lebanon than at Heartland’s Gravel Pit, Parking Lot, and RV Resort. We were packed in so close that they were feeling a little claustrophobic. Cedars of Lebanon provides spacious sites with trees, something you take for granted until you live with walking space only between rigs. So we now have a couple of Happy Little Campers once again.

So we are here for a week and we began our stay by spending a little time with the Grand Kids last evening. Catia was in my lap almost before my butt hit the chair. Kalina was still napping so Grandma had to go get her up. “Read to me, grandma.” Radek was a little offish until we got settled in then he crawled up next to Grandma so she could play. Yep, it’s all about Grand Kids!!!! This is an exciting time of the year to spend with Grand Children and we’re looking forward to seeing them around the tree on Christmas morning.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - -

Southward Bound

2011-12-20T05:55:00.001-06:00

Aah, the sweet smell of freedom. It’s “on the road again, we just can’t wait to get on the road again”. The Wandering America express will be heading southward bound this very morning. But, it was sort of hard to say good bye to Thurman and Phyllis as well as all the good new friends that we’ve made at the Amazon Fulfillment and Spa Center here in beautiful downtown Campbellsville. But, we’re sure we’ll be seeing them again as we all continue to roam about the county in this RV lifestyle.

Now another new chapter is beginning. In 2012 I will turn Medicare, in 2013 my young bride will turn Social Security. One or two more workamping stints and our finances should (emphasis on the word should) be pretty well set. So, we are now turning our thoughts to life at Rainbow Plantation and future travels.

But not so fast Maverick, first we have to do some maintenance to the rig once we get “home”. The leveling jacks need to be overhauled, the furnace has decided to quit working so it will need repair, and the toilet has quit holding water which means a gasket change out. I’m sure some other things will crop up, but these are all minor and part of home ownership whether it sets on wheels or concrete. “Stuff Happens!”

Anyhow, it’s farewell to Heartland Gravel Pit-Parking Lot-RV Resort, the Amazon Fulfillment and Spa Center, Beautiful Downtown Campbellsville, and it’s onto Murfreesboro with a Grand kid fix on the horizon. Before the sun sets today we’ll be hugging our grand babies. So, let’s “head ‘em up, roll ‘em out!”

“Happy days are here again
The skies above are clear again
So let's sing a song of cheer again
Happy days are here again”

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - - -

Retirement Day, Again

2011-12-19T03:59:00.001-06:00

We officially retired the alarm clock. No more chirping at us in the wee hours of the mornings. Come four thirty this afternoon and we’ll be retired junior citizens once again (senior citizens are those older than we are). One more sleep, grandkids, and we’ll be there to see your smiling faces.

Extra!! Extra!! Read all about it. Miss Judy makes good. Yep folks, my bride did good. She beat out the “Big Boys” in bin counting and got her picture placed on a poster in the ICQA area as well as plastered on all the TV monitors throughout the entire Amazon Fulfillment and Spa Center. My wife’s a star, so be sure to get her autograph as soon as you see her because, as of today, she retires her light saber (high tech scanner) to replace it with an apron and a wooden spoon (yeah right). Most likely she will trade it for a few beads and some quilting fabric.

Now, let us set the record straight. Amazon is a good employer. They take care of their employees. Their training for the job is good. Most of the managers are helpful and friendly. They have stretches twice a day. They provide bottled water throughout the facility. They hand out incentives to the employees (we got three five dollar gift cards to Kroger’s and one five dollar gift card to Gatti’s Pizza). They provide free gloves and knee pads for the job and the pay is higher than most entry level jobs.

The w*rk is physical, there’s no doubt about it, but Amazon tries to make it as enjoyable as they possibly can. It’s a warehouse J-O-B; there’s no two ways about it – it is just plain brute force w*rk. We’re tired, but we made a decent amount of money in a short period of time. So that’s the last that we are going to say about it in this blog. Now it’s onto new adventures – I can hear the sigh of relief rising up in cyber space.

This afternoon a whole bunch of us (about 16 in all) are going to descend on Colton’s Steak House and Grill for a farewell dinner. This a a Logan Steak House or a Texas Roadhouse type of place where you can eat peanuts and throw peanut shells on the floor. It will be good to gather together with Thurman and Phyllis and our newly made friends one last time before hitting the road. We’ll miss Thurman and Phyllis; they are real down to earth good people and great friends.

Now it’s time for us to get ready for our last day of w*rk and retirement party. So, See Ya Down The Road!!!

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - -

Just Doing It, Doing It

2011-12-18T03:41:00.001-06:00

Not much to report this morning. We’re still doing it, doing it. We’d hoped that it would have gotten easier by now, but it hasn’t. Advil has become our new BFF, we now buy it in the giant gallon jug economy size. The good news is that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and, no, it’s not a train. I don’t think there are any trains left in beautiful downtown Campbellsville anymore.

Jeff and Marsha came over for a visit last night. Jeff wanted to see some of the customization that we’ve done to our coach. They are thinking about upgrading to a slightly larger unit. After a few brandies and some lively conversation, they headed home and our thoughts turned toward beddy bye time. They are the couple that will be workamping just a few miles down the road from us this coming summer.

Well, it’s time to go splash some water on this old worn out bod, stuff a little breakfast into the gullet, and head off to the salt mines once again. Tomorrow, tomorrow, the end will come tomorrow, you can bet your bottom dollar, tomorrow. . . . .

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - -

More Katt Tales

2011-12-17T04:02:00.001-06:00

Hi, Alex here. I did everything I could think of to keep momma home yesterday. I sat in her lap, I purred, I cuddled, I meowed, I followed her everywhere she went, I even bathed, but she still left with dad to go to the four letter word place – w*rk. She did promise me that she will spend more time with me after this coming Monday. I think we’re “fixinto” travel again, what can I say. I don’t really like traveling but to be with momma, I’ll take it.

Hopefully mom and dad won’t bring them little people home with them again once we get to Tennessee. You never can predict just what they’ll do next. Katie and I have to watch them like hawks. They’re quick too!! They can be sitting on the floor playing and the next thing you know, they’re in your face. Katie hissed at them and that made them cry (I got a big charge out of that – wished I’d have thought of it first). This is our castle and we have to protect it.

Now, talking about four letter words. Mom said that when they left that four letter word place where they go everyday, they saw another four letter word event – sn*w. That stuff is cold on our tender pussy feet and we don’t want anything to do with it. So, it’s time to pull up anchor and make waves toward the southland.

Katie and I can’t wait to get back to the Plantation. There’s a routine there and things are “boring, boring, boring”. Just the way us katts like things. We are not Obama supporters, it’s NOT time for change. By the way, dad says ever since Obama got into office that’s all he has left in his pockets – change! Anyway, we like the same old, same old. And we want our attention when we want our attention. We’re not praying for patience because we’re katts, ya know? And we don’t need patience. Dawgs have masters, katts have staff. And we want our staff at home.

So, after the Christmas celebrations in Tennessee, mom and dad are taking us home -

We’ll be home after Christmas
You can plan on us
Please have NO snow but mistletoe
And dinners at the clubhouse.

The day after the day after Christmas
You’ll find us where the road home gleams
We'll be home after Christmas
With many cheers, it seems.

Yes, we'll be home after Christmas
With many, many cheers, it seems.

Be good now and don’t plague the katts! (Dad’s grandma used to say that, “Don’t you be plaguing that katt!” We think it is very appropriate.)

Alex

The Last Leg

2011-12-16T03:57:00.001-06:00

Today we start the last leg of our Amazon Adventure at the Amazon Fulfillment and Spa Center. Four more days and it’s “On the road again”. After 40 more hours of tummy tucks, step aerobics, Zumba, and yoga and we’ll be “fit as a fiddle!” Well, maybe a little out of tune fiddle, but a fiddle none the less. This as been an adventure that, in about ten years from now, we’ll be able to laugh about (that’s how long it will take for our bodies to stop hurting).

We’ve been asked if we’d do it again. Judy, without hesitation or reservation, says emphatically – NO!!! I still say that if we had a serious need, then maybe. It is a fast way to make some good money. However, we’re hoping that we don’t spend all that good money on doctors trying to recuperate from the experience.

I’ve done harder w*rk in my life, it’s just that it was when I wore a younger man’s clothes. There was the summer job at Ralston-Purina where I unloaded 800 one hundred pound bags of grain a day off of box cars and stacked them in the warehouse. By the end of the summer I could carry two of them 100 pound grain bags (yes, with grain still in them) on my the shoulders of my 135 pound body – it was all in the balance. But, today I’m tired of looking at my underside while counting “stuff” from the “A” bins.

I don’t know when it started happening, but while I was sitting on the floor counting items I realized that I was scratching behind my ear with my right foot. Hopefully, I won’t find myself sitting in the middle of the road, licking myself, and get hit by a car. Or waiting behind a bush for the Mailman to come. Or chasing cars down East Traveler Street. Yep, it’s a dawg’s life alright. “Do we have any more milk bones?”

All in all, it hasn’t been a bad experience, but it’s hasn’t been a good one either. The best part, as always, is the people you meet and the friends you make. We’ve enjoyed the time we’ve spent with Thurman and Phyllis Moore and have been truly blessed in meeting Scott and Valerie Anderson and Jeff and Marsha Anderson (Scott and Jeff are brothers). What great people and we hope to see all of them again somewhere down the road. Jeff and Marsha will be w*rkamping at Mackinaw Mill Creek in Michigan, a campground just down the road from where we will be. So we’ll be sure to spend some time with them this coming summer.

Along the way, we got to meet Al and Karen Phillips who had contacted us before we even arrived at Green River Lake State Park. They are a young couple from Long Island and are w*rkamping the their way around this great country of ours with their two dawgs. We hope to meet up with them again and be able to get to know them better.

We finally got to meet Billy and Brenda Mims on Wednesday. Sure wished we could have gotten our schedules together so we could have spent more time with them. They are wonderful people and we just know that it would be a blast to “hang out” with them. Being from Alabama, it’s a good possibility that our paths will cross again – we sure hope so.

It’s time to count the bins, so -

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - -

The Galilean Home

2011-12-15T06:23:00.001-06:00

The Galilean Home is located on a mountain top about 12 miles south of Liberty, Kentucky. The Home was founded by Jerry and Sandy Tucker, a Mennonite couple who had relocated to Kentucky from Michigan. Here’s an excerpt from the Galilean Home Shepherd, the Home’s newsletter.

“After several unsuccessful years of trying to start their own family the couple was able to adopt a three and a half month old boy with medical problems who had been given up by his teenaged mother. They have been unable to say no since. ‘I don’t thing God gave me time to think about it. We took every child God sent us.’ says Sandy, more commonly referred to as mom. ‘One person’s pain is another person’s joy. I get joy out of it.’ Over 800 children, including 500 newborns have been rescued from their fate by the compassionate and caring hearts of Sandy and Jerry Tucker who founded the Galilean Home Ministries, Inc. in 1984, nine years after it was first envisioned.”

In 1992 the couple opened a Christian bookstore in downtown Liberty. It wasn’t actually a success so they added several tables and began serving soup and sandwiches and in 1995 the Bread Of Life Café was born. “Opportunity opened the door in July of 2001 to move out of downtown to the main highway 127, five miles south of Liberty. The Bread Of Life Café is now a 150 seat destination restaurant where tours and church groups enjoy a down home buffet, famous homemade rolls, baked goods, and southern hospitality.”

Yesterday afternoon Scott, Valerie, Jeff, Marsha, Thurman, Phyllis, Judy, and I made a 30 mile trek to the Bread Of Life Café and we can attest to all of the above claims, especially the southern hospitality part. The Café is run by the “family”, that is the teenage and adult children of the Galilean Home, with the proceeds going toward the Home’s operation. They even offered us “seniors” a 10% discount.

Liberty is surrounded by hills and valleys and I’d bet that it would be extremely beautiful during the summer and fall. The trees were mostly barren and the day was overcast which somewhat diluted the beauty during this winter’s day. But, we enjoyed the drive about the area.

Other than that, we did our bi-weekly grocery shopping, made a quick trip to the Taste of Home store for some more soup starter, and had one of our propane tanks filled. Today is a rainy day so we are going to stay inside this morning to do some household chores and read. This afternoon we are going to visit some Amish shops in Lebanon, Kentucky with Thurman and Phyllis.

We received an email from Amazon HR stating that the “I Shift”, which is our shift, will be done w*rk on the 19th. That means that we’ll be on the road heading south on Tuesday. Four more days of w*rk and then we’ll be retired souls once again. That is until mid June when we start w*rking at Hearthside Luxury Motorcoach Resort in Michigan. As you all well know, after spending Christmas with our kids/grandkids in Tennessee, we’ll be making tracks to Summerdale, Alabama and Rainbow Plantation. Home again, home again.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - -

No Ups Or Downs Here!!

2011-12-14T05:34:00.001-06:00

Sadly, it’s a no go!! The leveling jacks did not have any broken parts, however, something is misaligned somewhere. I did a “field strip” of the left jack (the one with the drive motor and transmission) and there was no visible damage, but there is way too much play in the motor mounting. Both jacks go up and down freely with no weight on them, but once reassembled with the RV weight on them the same problem exists – no ups or downs.

So, I will have to manually raise and lower the rig using our hydraulic jack. It will be slow and tedious, but I will only have to do it to connect up here in beautiful downtown Campbellsville and then to disconnect and reconnect again at Cedars of Lebanon State Park. Once we’re back in ‘Bama, we’ll just set the trailer up on cement blocks and park a couple of junk cars out front . Anyway, then I can pull the leg apart and do a complete overhaul, maybe even a redesign. All I want for Christmas is an HWH leveling system.

While reassembling the jacks, I dropped a screw and where it went I know not. Of course, I didn’t have any replacements in my maintenance box, so off to the hardware store I went. When I was inside the “box” I had the “wear-with-all” to check and see if I had all the parts needed to fix the stairs. I didn’t, so those got added to the list along with replacement florescent lights. So, by day’s end, all of my maintenance chores were completed even though the jacks still “ain’t” w*rking.

Judy was a good little girl and got her w*rk done as well so by one o’clock it was nap time (when you get up and start your day in the middle of the night then a nap gets added to the afternoon agenda). After our nap, I finished working on the stairs. With our sore joints, I’m beginning to think we might need to install an escalator along with the HWH leveling system. I’m sure that we’d get a “rise” out of that (sorry, again, I just couldn’t resist the pun).

Okay, just a little katt news. Both katts were happy to have us around all day. Judy never did go outside the house and Alex managed to follow her everywhere she went. Katie laid on the sofa smiling while keeping an eye on both of us. Little do they know that some grooming is headed their way on Thursday. I’m sure battle lines will be drawn, but dad always wins. Their claws are just like needles and need to be trimmed. Whenever they walk through the house they look like Pig Pen in the Peanuts cartoon strip with fur trailing out behind them, so a good brushing is in order. Now don’t you go telling them, I want to sneak up on them and do the deed quickly before they know what hit ‘em.

We “stood” in bed until 0545 hours this morning. Later today we’ll do the Wally World thing. This afternoon we’re going on a luncheon with our fellow fulltime RVing and Amazon Fulfillment and Spa Center co-w*rkers. At least there’s life after w*rk!!! We may not be as good as we once were, but we’re still as good once as we ever were!!!!!!

Be sure to hang in there, take care, and thank God for this beautiful world that He created for us to live in. And thank God for His Son, Jesus, who’s the reason for this season. Through Him is eternal life for all who believe in Him and follow Him.

Until Next Time - - - - -

A Day (Or Three) Off :)

2011-12-13T05:14:00.001-06:00

It’s totally inconceivable. Here we get a day to sleep in and what does “Little Girl” do? She gets up at three o’clock, makes coffee, and starts reading in her Nook. Inconceivable!!! Sometimes I wonder what makes that girl tick. Not me – uh, uh!! I just rolled over, went back to sleep, and didn’t get up until the more reasonable hour of 5 AM.

We had around twenty people show up last night at Gatti’s Pizza. What a fun evening. Besides pizza, Gatti’s has a very nice salad bar, spaghetti or noodles with a selection of two different sauces, potato wedges, and a soup of the day. They have a great selection of pizzas ranging from thin crust to thick crust with different toppings and sauces. It’s $13.75 per couple and that includes drinks. Quite reasonable.

Well, this is it. We get three days off and, boy, are we ready for that. Just one more week of w*rk until retirement. I think we’ll be snowbirds this year and head south for the winter. We haven’t quite decided where we’ll go, but we just want to be bored for awhile – hey, wait a minute, maybe we can go to Summerdale, Alabama. We understand there’s an Escapee park there where there’s a boring routine that takes place all winter long. Yeah, I think we just might give it a try. And maybe we’ll get to meet some nice boing people, just like us, there. Never can tell, they might even be friendly.

This weekend will be like a bus man’s holiday. We may get time off from w*rk, but we have a “Ta Do List” longer than my arm to get rid of. First and foremost is that dag gone leveling leg. Hopefully, once I get it removed it will be an easy fix – what are the chances of that? About the same as a one for one swap out of a microwave/convection oven. In any event, by the end of the day I hope to have a “leg up” on it (couldn’t resist the pun).

Then there’s the stairs leading to the bathroom area. For some reason the screws have stripped and the stairs are pulling away from the wall. This will be an easy fix and I have all the needed “stuff” for this repair. Next will be a trip to Lowes to procure florescent lights for over the sink. They are slowly giving up the ghost and beginning to flicker. Finally, the katts need their nails trimmed and to be brushed. Katie hates this and Alex tolerates it.

Judy has laundry to do, bills to pay, and some household chores that she wants to finish. Then there’s the bi-weekly shopping trip to Wally World to replenish the larder. But, it won’t be all w*rk and no play. On Wednesday afternoon a “bunch” of us are going to the little town of Liberty for a luncheon at a place that donates all proceeds to a children’s home. We’ve been told that they have good food and it’s a great cause to support.

In any event, we’ll take it real slow and easy over the next three days so we won’t be too tired for w*rk on Monday-Friday – wouldn’t want that to happen, would we now? Well, that’s enough rambling for today.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - -

It’s A Pizza Break

2011-12-12T03:25:00.001-06:00

It’s Friday-Monday and a bunch of us are going to gather at Gatti’s Pizza Buffet after w*rk for some pizza and a few beers (that’s root beer – Taylor county is a dry county). That’s always fun. I remember when we were w*rking real J-O-Bs when a bunch of us would get together for a Thank God It’s Friday mini party after w*rk. I guess that’s part of the America tradition. You like to go to a place where everybody knows your name.

Tomorrow is going to be the only good day out of our three day weekend. Rain is predicted for Wed and Thu, so that means I had better make hay while the sun shines on Tue with that leveling jack. Hopefully it will just be a repair job and not require any parts. Beautiful downtown Campbellsville is not overrun with RV parts stores so parts availability could be an issue. We shall see what we shall see and it will be what it will be. Or as Judy says, it is what it is.

Okay, we need to go wash behind our ears, have a little breakfast, and make some nice chicken sandwiches for lunch. Then it’s on to first break (followed by lunch, followed by second break, and then TGIF Pizza). See you at Gatti’s at 4:30 – yes, of course you’re invited. The more the merrier.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - - -

Tired? I Guess We Were Tired!!!

2011-12-11T03:20:00.001-06:00

We have to admit that yesterday was the hardest day yet to get out of bed and go to w*rk. Neither one of us wanted to leave the house. Leave the house, heck, we didn’t want to leave the bed!!! We literally took ourselves by the scruff of the neck and dragged ourselves down the hill, across the street, and into the salt mine. We made it to the end and now have only six more days left. Oh man, that’s 60 hours of w*rk.

Needless to say, we are looking forward to being part of the tail light parade departing beautiful downtown Campbellsville. Two and half to three hours after departure we’ll arrive at Cedars of Lebanon State Park where we will sit and lick our wounds for a few days and then celebrate Christmas with the grand kids. Seeing their smiling faces is what keeps us motivated and going.

This morning we’re feeling much more rested. Why shouldn’t we? We went to bed before seven o’clock last night. We watched a little TV from bed, but very little, before dozing off. I guess our bodies needed it. Anyhow, as you can tell there’s nothing really new with us. W*rk a lot, eat a little, sleep a lot, but that cycle will soon be broken.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - -

Yep . . . . .

2011-12-10T03:23:00.001-06:00

Yep, we’re up. Yep, we’re still alive. Yep, it’s really, really early. Yep, it’s cold outside. Yep, we dread another 10 hour w*rk day. Yep, that’s a long, long day. Yep, there’ll only be six days left after today. Yep, we’re hanging in there. Yep, we’ll make it. Yep, the sun will be out tomorrow and then there’ll be freedom once again. Yep, then there will be joy throughout the land and we’ll live happily ever after. Yep, Norm, we’re ready to live a boring, boring, boring life at Rainbow Plantation.

Yep, Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - -

Engineers And Brackets

2011-12-09T03:46:00.001-06:00

Finally the sun made its appearance. Here is the sun rising over the Amazon Fulfillment and Spa Center here in beautiful downtown Campbellsville as seen from our livingroom window. Amazon is that big white thing just under the sun.

It was brrrrr cold outside and the truck was covered with frost from head to toe. When we leave here, we plan to drive far enough south that when we hold up the ice scrapper the natives say, “What’s that?” Then we’ll back the rig in and hook ‘er up for the rest of winter.

We left the Heartland Gravel Pit, Parking Lot, and RV Resort at nine hundred hours. Thurman and Phyllis joined us for our trip to E-town, but first we made a stop at the Post Office so Judy could ship the Christmas gifts that she and Alex wrapped up yesterday. Then the four us made a pit stop for a nice greasy spoon breakfast.

Along with picking up the microwave/convection oven, we made stops at Goodwill, Uniquely Yours Quilt Shop, and McDonald’s for a buck soft drink. Judy got a whiff of some new quilting fabric and picked up a couple of items whether they were needed or not. It was great weather, with great company, and a great little trip.

So, Jeopardy answer, “Not a snowball’s chance in extremely hot places!!!” “What’s, what are the chances of a one for one swap out for the new microwave/convection oven, Alex?” I have to ask, “What is it with engineers and brackets?” “Is it job security or what?”

When I was in manufacturing, if there was a design hold up it was due to some bracket change. I’d go to Engineering and say, “We’ve got 2 million, 943 thousand, 213 brackets in our data base and the supply chain is drowning in brackets, can’t you use one of those?” “Nope, won’t work, need a new one!”

Well, wouldn’t you know it, the new microwave/convection oven “needed a new one” along with a different hole pattern in bottom of the cabinet. That still wouldn’t have been so bad except the template “they” provided for locating the holes in the cabinet had them a half inch off location. After taking measurements of the microwave/convection oven and elongating the holes I had to use washers to keep the screw heads from pulling through the cabinet bottom. Anyway, the microwave/convection oven is installed along with it’s “new bracket” so now we can heat up a cup of water again. Now onto those danged leveling jacks.

Today is Monday-Friday, so it’s back to the salt mines for another illustrious week of w*rk – eight more w*rk days to go counting today. At least we are down to single digits, now if only our bodies will hold out we’ll be rich – well, richer anyway. So it’s, Hi Ho, Hi Ho - - -

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - - - -

How Long Can You Tread Water?

2011-12-08T05:02:00.001-06:00

By 10:00 AM the four of us were on the road heading just plain north for the gravel pit rendezvous. Here are some photos to give you some prospective of the flooding river/lake. As you can tell, it was an overcast, cold, damp, penetrating day. A stay inside, PJ day if we ever saw one.

The first picture is looking out the rear window of our slide out; that area was all field when we arrived at the State Park. The next picture is looking out of our door across Thurman and Phyllis’ rig; quickly becoming waterfront property.

This is the site just the other side of Thurman and Phyllis’ site. It really is waterfront property; you could step out the door and go swimming. And the last picture is the lake forming behind our rig; you can see the parking lot on the other side beginning to flood.

So, we traded this - -

For this - -

In order to avoid this - -

The bad part of making the trip from the State Park to the Gravel Pit was that there wasn’t anyone willing to prepare a travel day meal for us. So we dined on toasted cheese sandwiches and hot chocolate. Fine dining at its very best.

After getting the coach lifted up to drive the truck out from underneath, the leveling jacks broke again. We got the truck out, but couldn’t lower the front of the rig to level it. Fortunately we are not too far out of level, but now I have a job to look forward to next weekend. Hope it warms up or, at least, isn’t raining. We’ll repair the leveling system again, but when we get back to the plantation we’ll totally rebuild the entire system – there’s gotta be a better way. Another six weeks at the Amazon Fulfillment and Spa Center and we could earn enough money to install a brand spanking new leveling system, just like the big boys (motorhomes) have. “How about it Judy?” “I didn’t think so!!!”

Alex and Judy have finished wrapping all the Christmas gifts for Brian, Marc’s family, and Mary/Joel. They are all ready to go to the Post Office this morning. Good job, you two. Judy couldn’t have done it all by herself so it was good that she had her little elf to lend a helping paw as needed, or not needed. I should have videoed the event – it would have been a hit on You Tube.

Well now. Today it’s off to E-town to get the microwave/convection oven that we were going to pick up yesterday. Thurman and Phyllis are going to ride along with us. We’ve really enjoyed having them along with us during this journey through the Amazon. We’re going to miss them once we part company in a couple more weeks. What a great couple; they’re fulltime RVers, why wouldn’t they be?

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - - -

How High’s The Water Mama?

2011-12-07T05:18:00.001-06:00

The Green River Lake is a reservoir and the level is controlled by a Corps of Engineers dam. Over the past few weeks we’ve gotten more than our fair share of rain plus north of us “they” have gotten even more rain which means that the tributaries that feed the Green River are working overtime. All of which results in the Green River Lake State Park being on the verge of flooding. When we returned home from w*rk on Monday-Friday, we had a letter from the park office advising us that we may have to move to higher ground (as in another campground); they’re not sure yet, but we may have to if the water continues to rise.

Well, being the conscience folks that we are, and not wanting to get a point for missing a day of w*rk , we decided to move rather than tread water. As it turned out the Heartland Gravel Pit, Parking Lot, and RV Resort had four open sites – one for Scott and Valerie, one for Jeff and Marsha, one for Thurman and Phyllis and one for Darrell, Judy, Katie, and Alex. So, it will be “Wagons Ho!!” as we all caravan five miles north of here later today to rendezvous at the gravel pit. Rendezvousing at a gravel pit reminds me of high school days only a case of beer was involved, but that’s another story.

Miss Judy is ecstatic. She will have a full hookup 50 amp site high on a hill where she will be able to stand in the shower until the hot water runs out, wash clothes in her own washer-dryer, have a couple more television stations to watch, as well as have a good internet connection (hopefully). Wow, all the comforts of home – no more ruffin’ it. We might even have to extend our stay here at the Amazon Fulfillment and Spa Center in beautiful downtown Campbellsville (yeah, right!!).

Other than that exciting news, Judy attempted to wrap Christmas gifts yesterday afternoon while Alex lent her a paw, especially with the ribbon part (need all the help you can get with that). I’m not sure if he’s a help or a hindrance, but for some reason he got “the look” and was promptly deposited into my lap for containment. “I don’t think your help is appreciated, Alex. You’d better keep your paws to yourself.”

I pulled the old microwave/convection oven out so we can take it with us to Home Depot tomorrow (they will dispose of it for us). Hopefully the new one will be a “one for one swap” – what do you suppose the chances for that are? We’ll see. The one we had was an Amana and the one we are replacing it with is a Maytag; same manufacturer, same unit, you know, like Buick and Pontiac. Hopefully the parts are interchangeable. My buddy, William, and I once put a 1955 Packard automatic transmission into a 1953 Packard that had a standard transmission with the same bolting pattern and everything (a six pack of beer was involved here). That’s what I’m looking for; a 2006 Amana and a 2011 Maytag having the same bolting pattern (and, maybe, a couple of beers).

Well, we need to go and pack our bags, hook up the mule, circle the wagons, and put some pavement under our wheels. See you tomorrow from beautiful downtown Campbellsville – yep, we’ll be townies from now on. Right across the street from our J-O-B in beautiful downtown Campbellsville, how convenient is that???

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - -

The Great Escape

2011-12-06T06:53:00.001-06:00

Our microwave/convention oven is in at the Home Depot store in Elizabethtown (E-town) so tomorrow has been designated as pick up day. Judy asked if there are any quilting shops in E-town to which I stated that I had no idea. She is exhibiting quilting withdrawal symptoms and is in need of that new fabric smell from a quilting store. She was beginning to miss all her friends at Rainbow Plantation, but we got an email from Norm that set her heart at ease.

^{Its sort of boring here with the same old stuff going on and on and on.....}

^{Larry's delicious meals, group outings to Big Daddy's, Road Kill, movie nights, dozens of crafts, quilting group making over 200 baby blankets and over 250 baby hats, ice cream followed by a dance band, deck the halls (clubhouse) for Christmas, bus trip to Bellingrath Gardens, more eating out groups, kite flying, etc.....}

^{Just the same old stuff with temperatures in the 70s during the day and 60s at night.}

^{Boring, boring, boring...}

^{Be glad you're not here.}

^Norm

Man, are we ever glad that we don’t have to put up with all that mundane monotony going on at RP. Everyday is an adventure here in beautiful downtown “Camp Bellsville” and the Amazon Spa Center. We get to count new bins everyday. Kneel down, bend over, step up – and they mix up the routine, never the same exercise routine day after day. Also, we get to play with a high tech scanner, almost as good as the Star Wars light sabers. And we get our own cart to push around as well (just as soon as we look all over hell’s half acre to find one). Furthermore, we get to walk all over the place and see new scenery, not the same old houses on East / West Indigo or Sienna in the Plantation. Yep, we are indeed the lucky ones to have escaped all that redundancy.

But all good things have to come to an end. Today we have to take three whole days off from all that fun. Why, we don’t know what we’re going to do with ourselves. I guess we’ll just have to sit here, with one arm as long as the other, looking at each other’s pointed little heads. Dang, don’t ya just hate it when that happens.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - -

Rainy Days And Mondays . . .

2011-12-05T03:18:00.001-06:00

Today is both, but it’s our Friday . TGIF!!!!! More to come tomorrow.

Take Care ‘Til Then - - - - -

We’re All Hanging In There

2011-12-04T03:53:00.001-06:00

Well, it’s been back to w*rk now for the past couple of days. We’ve finally hit the half way mark and now only have ten 10 hour shift days left to go (maybe 11 if we have to stay and w*rk on the 23rd). We’ve managed to get into the groove, but we’re not saying that it’s not tiring.

Anyway, we are becoming quite the contortionists with all the positions that we need to get into to count bins. A good thing about this flexibility program is that should we ever encounter a nuclear war, we are now limber enough to bend over with our heads between our legs and kiss our hinnies good bye. Also, I can scratch the back of my head using my foot which comes in extremely handy when both hands are busy.

The weather has been mild – emphasis on the word “has”. The old weather dudes are calling for “more seasonable” weather conditions in the next few days which means colder temperatures with the possibility of sn*w showers – yuck. Here’s hoping that we get some good weather for our days off beginning Tuesday.

By the way, Katie and Alex are hanging in there. They’re not thrilled about our long absences, but are figuring out the routine. Alex saves his energy so he can act up once we get home. He loves to get up in the recliner next to his mom and beg for her attention. Katie gives us the cold shoulder for awhile and then comes around for her attention. At least they don’t think they’re orphan katts anymore.

So, I guess what can be said is that we’re all hanging in there. Can’t wait for Christmas break, though, bringing forth our former freedoms. “The sun’ll come out tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar . . . . !”

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - - - -

Out Of Humble Beginnings

2011-12-03T03:42:00.001-06:00

We got a not so early start on Thursday heading for Hodgenville, Kentucky, the birthplace of our 16th President of the United States – Abraham Lincoln. From Campbellsville it’s a 50 minute drive through the country with beautiful pastoral scenes along the way. Hodgenville is small rural town in Kentucky not awfully far from Elizabethtown (Etown to the locals) and/or the I-65 corridor.

The National Park Service oversees both the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace in Hodgenville and his early boyhood home which is 9 miles away in Knob Creek. And, as with most NPS sites, there is an introductory movie which is always well done and informative.

The glass etching and the bronze statues of the family are located in the visitor’s center. The statue is of Abraham’s mother and father, Nancy and Thomas along with Little Abe and older sister Sarah. He had a younger brother, Thomas, who died as an infant.

The memorial is built on the site of the old homestead and a replica of the log home is housed inside. The cabin was built along side of a spring that still runs today. Due to a land dispute, the Lincoln’s were forced leave their home and move to Knob Creek which is north of Hodgenville.

Hodgenville has erected statues of Abraham one of which is from his boyhood.

Six miles north of Hodgenville is the site of his boyhood home where his family lived until he was eight years old. Due to another land dispute, the family was forced to move again – this time they moved to Indiana. The site at Knob Creek has remained undeveloped since the time the Lincoln’s lived there. You can still see the fields where Abraham and Sarah played and worked in the family gardens.

We’re not going to include any detailed history here. You can find everything you want to know just by “Googling” Abraham Lincoln.

After all that site seeing, “Feed Me” showed up. So we made a beeline back to beautiful downtown Campbellsville to the Happy Days Diner where you can order a dinner named after your favorite Happy Days character. Judy had a Fonz burger and I had a Mr. C’s special burger. The food was yummy and the ambiance was great.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - - - -

Running A Little Behind

2011-12-02T03:47:00.001-06:00

And, no, I’m not referring to my behind, that ain’t little and I ain’t running. Yesterday was a fun filled day and we had a great outing, but didn’t get the photos edited or the blog written in time to meet the publishing deadline. So, with some luck we’ll get our trip to Lincoln’s Birthplace posted tomorrow.

In the meantime, here are some photos from our drive with Thurman and Phyllis the other night through the “Christmas in the Park” light displays. It’s difficult to get good night pictures from a moving vehicle, but it was too cold to keep stopping and getting out each time so we’ll just have to live with the blur.

We sure are glad that we had the three days off, it took two days for us to recuperate and catch up on the household chores. However, we did manage to have a little fun each day. Now we’re about ready to knock off four more days of this w*rking ordeal. But, we are thankful for this six week opportunity to make the money that will allow us to keep on living our fulltime RVing lifestyle. And, we are already making plans for another outing for next “weekend”. It’s all good!!!!

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - - -

Recovery? Almost!

2011-12-01T05:59:00.001-06:00

It only took two days for our bodies to begin to feel good again. What can we say? We are out of shape and this physical work is kicking our asses. Judy has a big toe that has turned purple under the toenail, she has pain shooting up and down her left leg, and the little toe and the side of her right foot have gone numb. Darrell has lots of pain in both his knees and in his left shoulder as well as a sharp pain at the base of his neck all of which makes it hard to fall asleep at night. Yep, this job maybe suited for teenagers, but it’s certainly rough on us keenagers. It will either kill us or cure us – here’s hoping for the latter.

Anywhoo, we hit Wally World yesterday morning to augment our grocery supply, got a Christmas package ready for shipping to our son in Michigan, took a short nap, and read a little. While at Uncle Wally’s we picked up an inexpensive speaker system with a subwoofer for my computer so we could have decent sounds while listening to Pandora Radio. We’re “streaming” on TengoInternet while here at Green River Lake State Park, but it will only use 15MBs per hour to listen when using our Verizon modem. Even if we have to pay an additional $10 per month, it’s nice to be able to listen to our favorites on commercial free radio – we like 60’s or lite 70’s music streams.

Last evening we joined Thurman and Phyllis for a real fine meal. Phyllis loves to cook and we love to eat, so it makes a rather nice arrangement. After dinner the four of us took a jaunt into beautiful downtown Campbellsville to see the Christmas light display in one of the city parks. They were real purdy, but sn*w is needed to make it feel like Christmas seasons of days gone by. We just may get some before we pull up anchor and haul assets; the temperatures are already dropping into the high twenties during the nights.

We took a bunch of pictures of the lights to share with you, but wouldn’t you know it? After returning to Thurman and Phyllis’ for dessert, I left the camera at their house. So I’ll just have to retrieve it later today and post the pictures tomorrow along with today’s outing. Today the four of us are heading to Hodgenville, Kentucky to visit the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Park. Hopefully we’ll have something interesting to share with you tomorrow.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - - -

Recuperating

2011-11-30T07:07:00.001-06:00

Finally our fourth ten hour w*rk day came to an end on Monday. We were both out of gas by the 1330 break and operated on fumes until about fifteen hundred hours, then it was coasting on empty for the rest of the day (until sixteen hundred and thirty hours). Whew, we made it through our first week of 10 hour days!!! In order of celebration we met with nine other CamperForce fulltiming friends at Gatti’s Pizza Buffet in beautiful downtown Campbellsville. We were all tired, but still had enough left in us to gather together for chatting, chewing, and chuckling. It was good to return to a little bit of our normal fulltiming lifestyle of fun, food, and fellowship.

Yesterday it was “Baby it’s cold outside” (36* and spitting sn*w every now and then), but a trip to the Due Dirty Laundry was a necessity. We had done our daily household chores (which were put on hold for the past four days) before heading to the laundromat. After finishing the laundry, we came home for some rest and relaxation.

But first, we made a trip to the back yard to cut down a Christmas tree, a trip to the basement to get out some of our Christmas decorations, and fine tuned the FM radio to Christmas music. Then we decorated the house for the Christmas Season. After we finished decorating, we threw another log on the fire in the fireplace, whipped up some hot chocolate with additive in it, put on our PJ’s, and wrapped up in our cuddle blankets in the recliners with our Nooks (don’t tell Amazon). With Katie cuddled up on her blankie and Alex stretched out on the braided rug in front of the fireplace; why, Currier and Ives couldn’t have come up with a homier Christmas scene.

Here are some pictures of our decorations. First, and foremost, is the Christmas Tree. There’s a shot with flash and without flash. Pretty darned nice looking tree isn’t it? It always looks nice when Judy finishes with it, but just wait’ll Alex gets done with it.

Here’s Katie inspecting the coffee table to ensure everything is in proper order there. Notice that she has a cuddle blanket too. Yes, that is her blanket, mom crocheted it for her. Now Alex wants one, but he’ll have to wait until we get back to Rainbow Plantation.

Here’s Judy’s ragdoll snowman and a few of our hanging glass ornaments with pictures of Grand children in the background.

And, no Christmas scene would be complete without a sleigh and some reindeer. The reindeer are out in the pasture grazing and the sleigh is waiting to get some gifts from Santa’s workshop (or is that Amazon.com?).

We do need to find a place for a Nativity Set because if you take Christ out of Christmas, what do you have left? He’s the reason for the season. But still,

“It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas,
Ev'rywhere you go”

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - - -

A Wellness Program For You

2011-11-29T05:47:00.001-06:00

Okay, we won’t lie to you. We’re doing just fine. This job is a real piece of cake. What a way to make some extra money. All it takes is bending over (this is called tummy tucks) and climbing up and down on a stool (this is called step aerobics) for 10 hours a day. Oh yes, you get to develop your math skills as well while you play Count Dracula. “One, one little item. Two, two little items. Three, three little items.” And so on.

The really fun part is when you get to look into the bins at the lowest level with bunches and bunches of items in them. There you are with your ass above your head trying to balance yourself on two knees and one elbow with your head next to the floor while pulling the items out of the bin like a katt burying his business in a sand box. Once you get the items out and counted, then you have to “stuff” them back into the bin, nice and neat now, while balancing yourself on two knees and one elbow with your head next to the floor (this is called the dawg pose in yoga).

Don’t worry about your muscles and joints, they’ll let you know that they are still there; they’ll even introduce you to few new muscles that you didn’t even know you had. But plenty of Advil and a heating pad will quiet them down after they torment you for a few hours.

Yes indeed folks, this is an all around program. It stimulates mind and body, but what about the soul? Well, we can assure you that you’ll be doing a lot of soul searching while doing 10 hours worth of tummy tucks, step aerobics, and yoga poses. Your soul will be moved in ways you never dreamed of .

So, if this sounds like a program that you’d love to get in on, then just give Amazon a call. Tell them that Darrell and Judy sent you – we get a referral fee (and if we can recruit enough suckers, eh, I mean dedicated souls, then we might even win an all expense paid trip to Hawaii).

Just think, you too could be experiencing all this fun and exercise. No need to pay expensive gym fees when you can get paid for the experience. All you have to do is make plans to show up sometime next fall and Amazon will be more than happy to let you play. Exercise for the body, math skills for the mind, and yoga for the soul; who could ask for a more complete program. Don’t delay, call today. Operators are standing by.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - - -

Chronicles Of The Latchkey Katts

2011-11-28T03:36:00.001-06:00

Little Orphan Katie here. Once upon a time, and not too awfully long ago, we had two wonderful humanoid parents; does anyone know where they are? They go wheeling outta here in the wee hours of the morning leaving Alex and I alone all day to handle things on the home front. Then they return again to only sit and stare into space. They both moan and groan. Dad puts the heating pad on his back and shoulders while mom keeps pumping Advil. What’s Valium? They both claim they need it – bad!!!!

We hear they are playing the w*rk game, whatever that is. I’m quite sure it is not something that we katts would be very interested in. When we need stuff, all we have to do is wish upon a star. You know,

“When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you
It will come to you”

Our food comes from an endless supply in the pantry, so it’s not necessary for us to enter into that w*rk game kind of torture. All we have to do is meow a couple of times, click our heals together, and do the purr thing, then we get what ever we want. Aren’t humanoids great? Every katt should own one or two.

Anyhow, Mom’s whooping dad at the w*rk game. In ten hours she inventoried 1407 bins to dad’s 1345. Both have a 99.3% accuracy rating and are exceeding the goal of 125 bins an hour. I wonder if there are any katt toys in them thar bins? They say that Amazon stocks anything that you can think of or want. Got any katt nip?

Oh well, it time for us to take up our duty of keeping the home fires burning while the old folks go back to the salt mines (is that the same as the w*rk game?). Hurry home before our bowls need filling. Oh yes, mom says to give Norm and Linda a thanks for the Well Pads, but I think they might be needing more.

Many purrs to you and if you happen to see our mom and dad wandering the street, send them home where they belong.

Katie

UUUGH!!!!!!

2011-11-27T03:33:00.001-06:00

And that’s all we have to say about it!!!!!!

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - - -

The Long Long W*rk Day

2011-11-26T03:51:00.001-06:00

Well, how’d it go? Yep! Are you still alive? We’ll know just as soon as we get the doctor’s report back. Were you tired? Well, duh!!! But guess what? We get paid the shift differential for all hours worked. It just keeps on getting better and better – the hits just keep rolling in.

We crawled home, heated up some beef stew, fell asleep face down in the stew, managed to run through the shower, and then poured ourselves into our recliners. I covered up with the Man Quilt and was afraid that that would be right where I’d find myself in the morning. But, alas, we were able to drag ourselves off to bed just as soon as we medicated ourselves. Better put more Advil on the top of the shopping list, honey!!!

Now we’re hearing that damned noise again; someone want to kill that clock? You mean we gotta get up and do it all over again? Oh well, at a $11.50 an hour, it will be worth it in the long run; and that’s just what it seems like right now – a long, long run. Will we do it again next year? The verdict is still out, but we’re not saying no at this point (at least one of us isn’t anyhow).

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - - -

This Is It!!!

2011-11-25T03:57:00.001-06:00

This is it!!! Black Friday!!! “They” (whoever they are) say we are into the “Peak” season now. So, no more laughing, no more fun, Amazon’s peak season has begun. If you show your teeth or tongue, you’ll have to w*rk mandatory overtime. Or something like that.

Anyway, we are off for our first 10 hour marathon w*rk day. We’ll leave the house at 0530 and get back home at just before 1700 hours. Let’s see, 1700 minus 0530 equals 11.5 hours. And that, my friends, is a looooong w*rk day for a youthful fulltime w*rker bee, let alone a baby boomer retired couple w*rker bee. Sure hope we survive!!! Others have gone before us and made it. So, most likely, we will too.

We owe, we owe, so off to w*rk we go. Well, we don’t actually owe, but it is off to w*rk we go.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - - -

Be Thankful And Give Thanks

2011-11-24T06:20:00.001-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Judy and I hope you, your family, and all your friends have a very blessed day. We do have a lot to be thankful for. We live in the greatest country in the world, we have freedoms like no other peoples on earth, we have wealth beyond the imagination of most of the inhabitants on this planet. On top of that, we have lots and lots of family and friends to be thankful for. But, most importantly, we have a Lord and Savior who loved us enough to provide eternal life for us in Heaven with the Father, Himself, and the Holy Spirit. Yes indeed, we need to enter into praise and thanksgiving on this very day.

We’ll be joining in together with fellow CamperForce and RVing friends (most of whom we don’t even know, yet) for a Thanksgiving Day Buffet at Creekside Restaurant in beautiful downtown Campbellsville. It won’t be the same as being back at the Plantation, but it will be fun none the less.

Well, there was no rain yesterday, but there was no sun either. It was dark, dreary, damp, and cold so we opted for another “stay at home with the katts” day; therefore, no outing and no pictures. I can say one thing for certain; our recliners, the fireplace, the Man Quilt for me, and the Cuddle Blanket for Judy gave us a nice warm cozy comfy feeling all afternoon. We spent the day on the ‘puter, reading, napping, and watching a movie, so there you have it. Another fine day in the “Life Of Riley”.

Take Care Until Next Time And Remember To Give Thanks - - - - - - - -

Yesterday Unfolded

2011-11-23T06:46:00.001-06:00

There’s not much to say, so what can we say? Yesterday unfolded exactly as we predicted – well almost. We decided to venture out and do the laundry yesterday afternoon so that we could have all day today to play. While we were at the “Due Dirty Laundry” laundromat, we bumped into Thurman and Phyllis (as well as half of the Amazon CamperForce, so it seemed). Someone had told them about an Amish country store so, after the last of the laundry was folded and put into the basket, the four of us made tracks to the store.

It was your typical unique Amish country store appropriately named “The Taste Of Home” with all the home baked items being displayed. There were some good looking deli meats and cheeses, as well, and lots and lots of preserves. Also, plenty of “stuff” for the sweet tooth adorned the shelves along with wheat flours, etc. for baking. We only picked up some soup starter and a loaf of bread this time, but, like Schwarzenegger said, we’ll be back.

Other than that, we stayed inside and rested while the beef stew cooked itself in the crockpot. It was um-um gooood especially being complemented with that fresh homemade Amish bread. Fit for a king (and queen).

Today we are going on an outing, but we’re not saying where ‘cause we need something to write about tomorrow. There’ll be pictures as well, so be sure to come back to see where we went and what we did.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - - - -

Rainy Days In Paradise

2011-11-22T06:08:00.001-06:00

It’s dark and rainy outside. Here I sit, am I getting up or am I going to bed? It’s hard to tell. The last couple of days at w*rk were a little bit on the “ruff” side. We were doing what is called “bin cleanup”. The bins are on shelving stacked six shelves high (about seven feet high from bottom to top). The scanner tells us which bin to count and it would send us to a bin at the floor level followed by one on the top shelf, then back to the floor level followed by another one on the top shelf. You need to be on your hands and knees to count the bottom bins and on your step stool to count the top bin. This made for a five hour aerobic bend and stretch program. Thank God for Advil.

By the way, if any of you are wanting to read another prospective on w*rking at Amazon, then check out Karen’s blog – Wish Upon An RV Star. Al and Karen, young fulltimers from Long Island, are staying here at Green River Lake State Park along with their fur kids Casey and Chelsea (an Irish Setter and Golden Retriever). Al w*rks in AmCare as an EMT and Karen was w*rking in Receiving, but has just transferred to CrisPlant (a shipping department).

Karen contacted us while we were at Cedars of Lebanon and told us to “text” her when we arrived. I had to explain that we are old folks and don’t do the “text”, “tweet”, “twitter”, “twist”, or “twitch” thang, but we would be in contact with them. They’re great folks and we’re sure glad we got to meet them.

It began raining Saturday night and hasn’t bothered to stop yet. The weather dudes are giving us a 90% chance for rain today with some “severe” thunder storms so, I guess, it will be a play indoors day for little Darrell and Judy.

As a kid, I sort of liked rainy days every so often. We’d play inside our “bunk” house. The summer that I was in the fifth grade, our dad built Mike and me a bunk house out behind the garage (it still stands there today). We would sleep and play out there all summer long from early May to October. Monopoly and Clue were favorite rainy day games. Building model cars and airplanes were other favorite bunk house activities whether it was raining or not. That bunk house maybe the very reason that I am so content in small quarters (i.e., recreational vehicles) to this very day.

Today, while it continues to rain outside, I get to spend time inside our Cedar Creek “bunk house” playing with my girl friend. We’ll do a little cleanup of the house, make some beef stew, read in our Nooks, play some games, and/or watch some movies. Instead of Monopoly, we have Sequence which we haven’t played in a long. long time. It’s just so nice and warm and comfy in our little “bunk house” on this cold rainy fall day. Yep, it’s still nice to have a rainy day every so often.

Norm, being from Kentucky, sent us a list of things to see around this area. Hopefully tomorrow will clear up so we can make a day trip to one or two of the spots. Before our time here at Green River State Park is complete, we hope to visit most of his suggestions and make some pictures to share with you. Thanks for the list Norm.

If you remember, last summer the microwave portion of our convection/microwave oven crapped out so we’ve needed to replace it. We found a replacement for $449 on Amazon last October and was “fixinto” (a Southern term meaning getting ready to begin to start) order it. However, we learned that once we started w*rking for Amazon we’d get a 10% discount – which would mean a savings of almost forty-five bucks. So we waited. Well, Saturday I went on line to order said oven, but guess what? Amazon no longer lists it.

The good news is that we found that Home Depot can special order it for us for $388 plus we get a 10% veteran’s discount. So, we did not hesitate to put it on order. We’ll have to drive to Elizabethtown, Kentucky (50 miles away) to pick it up once it comes in, in about 15 days. On top of everything else, we can take the old one to Home Depot to be recycled without having to pay a dumping fee. All in all, that little transaction saved us over a hundred bucks even after considering the fuel to go pick it up. See, good things do come to those who wait!!!

Well, “enuff” is “enuff” and I’ve rambled on “enuff”. Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - -

This Ain’t Your Father’s Sunday

2011-11-20T03:55:00.001-06:00

It’s Sunday and it’s a w*rk day. The clock started leaking all over the nightstand at oh four hundred hours. Yawn!!! This schedule certainly has our fur kids all messed up. Alex likes being the alarm katt and is not happy that something has usurped his authority; thereby, he makes a nuisance of himself by getting in the way and acting up. Katie, on the other hand, just sits there and stares wondering if she’s supposed to be getting up or going to bed.

Oh well, such is life. We continue w*rking five hour shifts for today and tomorrow, have three days off, and then start ten hour shifts on Black Friday – now we know why they named it Black Friday. After tomorrow, we’ll only have 16 more w*rk days which is 160 w*rk hours, 9600 w*rk minutes, or 576,000 w*rk seconds – but who’s counting. This, too, shall pass!!

Being that we had yesterday off, we took the opportunity to clean up the house, make a lasagna dinner, and have the neighbors over. It’s sooooooo nice to have Thurman and Phyllis next door. They were one of the bright spots of workamping at Lake George Escape. And, they were the main reason that we were enticed to come here and w*rk at Amazon.com. We had a real nice enjoyable evening together. By the way, we’ll be spending Thanksgiving with them, as well as other co-w*rkers, at a local restaurant.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - - - - -

Work And Real Life

2011-11-19T07:14:00.001-06:00

Hang in there, there will be something other than w*rk, along with pictures, a few paragraphs later.

Okay, so how are things going? We hate to be that boring couple that can’t talk about anything but w*rk, however, we have several people who have asked us to let them know about the Amazon.com CamperForce experience (CamperForce what Amazon calls us workampers). Currently there are about 1200 CamperForce employees spread over three Facilities (one in Kansas, one in Kentucky, and one in Nevada). Amazon is looking to expand the program to as many as 15,000 CamperForce employees over the next several years.

The w*rk is tedious but not exactly difficult, however, you will definitely find some muscles that you forgot you had. The killer maybe the long hours as we’ve yet to w*rk a ten hour shift. Both Judy and I feel that it is a lot easier than the w*rk we did for Regis a couple of years back simply because of the Fulfillment Center’s organization.

Basically, Amazon.com is a well run company. They have put many of the same initiatives in place that I was implementing in the manufacturing plants which I oversaw in my past life. It’s nice to see a facility this size operate so efficiently. Now, keep in mind that the general workforce doesn’t always see the big picture and tends to grumble about having to follow all these ridiculous “petty rules”. But it’s those “petty rules” that makes sure the product flows in and out of the plant quickly without lots of quality issues.

Judy and I are w*rking in the Inventory Control and Quality Assurance department. We use a Rubbermaid cart, a folding step stool (just like the ones you get at Camping World), and a scanner to validate the inventory in the bins. The bins range from the floor to just above eye level (the reason for the stool) – that means lots of bending, stretching, and reaching which is the physical part of this job.

The scanner tells us what bin to count, we enter the count, and the computer validates it. If it matches, we move on to the next assigned bin. If it doesn’t match, we have to recount the bin and re-enter the count. If it still doesn’t match then it is flagged as a problem bin that will be assigned to someone else to resolve the issue and adjust the inventory as necessary. There’s a whole lot more to the process than we’ve outlined here, but we have signed a confidentially agreement and don’t want to cross that line.

Right now, we would have to say that this is a good way to make a few extra bucks. It’s not hard, but it’s not easy. The real difficult part, for the “outbound” departments, will be the mandated overtime once the peak season begins (right after Black Friday). Depending on the workload (that being incoming orders) it could result in up to 60 hours per week for them. The “Inbound” departments will be on voluntary overtime during that time. The verdict is still out as to whether or not we’ll return next year, but so far so good. We’ll know for sure by December 23rd.

Now, as promised, here’s something non-w*rk related. One day this past week, Miss Judy and I decided to figure out why the Green River is a lake. Believe me it doesn’t take a rocket scientist here; it’s called a dam. The Corps of Engineers (Gummint Beavers) gathered up lots of sticks and dammed up a section of the river which forced the water to flood the nearby low lands thereby creating Green River Lake. We’re not sure why it’s called Green River as the water is pretty much blue, but we’ll leave that for someone else to figure out.

So anyhow, we took a drive down river to the Corps of Engineers dam site and visitor’s center. As you can see, we had to drive across the top of the dam to get to the visitor’s center.

Why did the people go over the dam? To see it from the other side of the lake/river.

Speaking of the other side, here’s the spillway on the backside of the dam.

And, yes, you can see that the Green River Lake is in fact blue.

This is the old Atkinson homestead that is located on the visitor’s center grounds. It was tooooo cold and windy for us to walk down and investigate so we just snapped this picture and made a bee line to the truck.

And, on our way home, we passed by this old run down house. Our sister-in-law, Shauna, loves old houses so we snapped this picture just for her.

There’s a Civil War Battlefield nearby as well as Lincoln’s birthplace. We hope to visit both of those in the coming weeks. So, hang in thar. There is more to life than w*rk after all!!!!

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - - - - -

The Routine

2011-11-18T03:41:00.001-06:00

Whasat noise?, bam bam bam (clock’s dead), yawn, scratch, stretch, stumble stumble stumble, trip, “MEEEOOOOOW”, “sorry Alex”, open eyes, “coffee ready yet?”, sip sip sip, “ah”, “Good Morning y’all”, I are up!!!

Thank God It’s Friday. Tomorrow’s a day off – we’ll bring you up to date then. The w*rk’s not bad, it just the early start that’s difficult.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - - -

Snoozing

2011-11-17T03:34:00.001-06:00

The second greatest invention of mankind, right after the double stuffed Oreo, is the snooze button, but now I’ve gone and used all my blogging time snoozing. Awwww, this w*rking for a living has gotta go!!!!

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - - -

Hi Ho, Hi Ho - - - - -

2011-11-16T03:55:00.001-06:00

Do you remember alarm clocks? Something that you set at night to help scare the daylights into you in the morning! Ours went off promptly at oh four hundred hours this morning. It sent the katts scurrying. We had two sets of eyes staring at us wondering if the world was coming to an end (or, in our case, a beginning). Yep, it’s day two of w*rk.

Yesterday’s training sessions brought back lots of memories. Having been in manufacturing for over thirty years, I’ve sat through, written, and presented those very same training programs. And looking around the facility I noted a lot of familiar items; for instance, 18 miles of conveyor. There are various types of guided roller conveyors and belt conveyors located all over the facility. Also, there is lots of package handling conveyor which is very similar to baggage handling conveyor used by the airlines.

In my previous life, just before retirement, I worked for Jervis B. Webb Company which manufactured material handling systems from automated guided vehicles to all types of conveyor systems. As Plant Manager I was responsible for overseeing the manufacturing process and implementing the very same processes being used at Amazon.com. Lots of memories (mostly, but not all, good).

Well, so far so good. Judy and I were impressed with the cleanliness and the processes being utilized by Amazon. We will be in the Inventory Control and Quality Assurance Department working four ten hour days (Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon) on the day shift (0600 to 1630 hours) with a half hour lunch break. We’ll be paid a sixty cent shift premium for Saturday and Sunday (I’ll take that, thank you very much) and overtime in our department is on a volunteer basis (in the outbound departments O.T. is mandatory).

Today we’ll begin Inventory Control and Quality Assurance training so tomorrow we will be able to share more of what that is all about. Basically it’s taking inventory, but beyond that we’re not really sure. We’ll get a cart (one you push, not ride in) and a scanner (there must be a million of those things throughout the facility) to play with. So check in tomorrow to learn more about Darrell and Judy’s Great Adventure.

The past two days have been rainy and fairly warm (50’s at night, 60’s during the day) and it’s still raining this morning with thunder providing background noises. Judy is feeling (and sounding) much better this morning, but we’ll keep on pouring the Nyquil into her at night and the Musinex into her in the morning. Hopefully we can beat this thing without taking her to the Saw Bones again.

Well, it’s time to go wash behind the ears and swill down another cup of Joe so -

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - -

This Is It!!!

2011-11-15T04:35:00.001-06:00

“Hey diddle dumpling, I’ll be darned!!! Here I sit with my britches on. One sock off and one sock on; hey diddle dumpling, I’ll be darned!!!” Wow, it’s OOOOOOOh Dark Thirty in the morning and it’s still dark outside – what the heck am I doing up at this hour? Oh yes, today is the first day of that incredibly nasty word – W*RK. Ugh!!!

The “meet and greet” went without a hitch yesterday afternoon. We did get assigned to the “inbound” side of the operation on the day shift, but not in Stowing. Judy and I will be bean counters in the Inventory Control and Quality Assurance department. More to come about that just as soon as we figure out what it’s all about.

‘Twill be an easy day today as we just have Orientation and Safety Training. I’ll need orientation alright. Is w*rk like riding a bicycle? Will I remember how it is done? Do I want to remember how it is done? These are questions to be pondered. Now, where the heck is my other sock?

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - - - -

A Different Kind Of Church Service

2011-11-14T07:24:00.001-06:00

Yesterday morning we attended Church On The Eastern Shores in Fairhope, Alabama via the internet. They “Live Stream” all three services; the 8:30, the 10:00, and the 11:30 services. It sure is nice to have that option when you’re away from home. Being that we have a strong signal from the Tengonet WIFI service here at the campground, we were able to watch the entire service with out any hiccups. It wasn’t as good as being there in person, but met our need to gather with our church family and worship God.

The past two days have been extremely windy. It began Friday night and has continued on until now. The wind is strong enough to shake the entire house and, of course, rattles the slideout awnings making it rather noisy at times. Hopefully we’ll get a break from the wind later today.

It all began on Friday and is slightly improved this morning. Judy’s sinuses are acting up again. Saturday night she had quite the fever and was a little feverish yesterday. We had picked up some good old Nyquil when we did our grocery shopping which has seemed to help. Today we’ll probably visit the clinic and see about some antibiotics. We have to get her over this real fast. Her tender little body won’t be able to deal with ten hours of w*rk while fighting off a sinus infection.

This afternoon we have our Amazon “meet and greet”. We’ll find out the state of our lives for the next six weeks as they will let us know our assignments and shifts. It really doesn’t look like we’ll be getting “stowing”; most likely “picking”.

We received an email saying they were looking for volunteers from the “inbound” departments to work in the “outbound” departments. Receiving and stowing are “inbound” activities while picking and shipping are “outbound” activities.

Being that we’re just starting, we assume that “they” (whom ever “they” are) will just assign us to one of the “outbound” activities. We already told them that we couldn’t stand in one place for ten plus hours, so that leaves picking (and grinning, but you don’t get paid for grinning). We’ll know for sure by day’s end.

Katie and Alex have no idea that they’re about to become latchkey katts. They’re not going to like us being away for ten to twelve hours a day. Alex needs the attention while Katie just likes to have Mom and Dad around the house. Neither one of them like to be left home alone for long periods of time. But they both like that high priced katt food so it’s off to w*rk we go. They, like us, will learn to deal with it.

Well, it’s off to do the laundry so we’ll catch you on the flip side.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - -

What? No TV?

2011-11-13T07:29:00.001-06:00

Yep folks, no television to speak of here at Green River Lake State Park. Two things that we can say about that. First of all, we don’t watch enough TV to really matter, and two, we’ll be w*rking so many hours that our day will be breakfast – w*rk – lunch – w*rk - dinner - bed. Also, Amazon is paying for us to have a Tengonet WIFI connection so there’s always Hulu.com, but we may just go to Family Video and catch up on some the latest movies that we’ve not see over the past two or three years.

Here is the sunrise as seen from Judy’s Chair – neat huh?

We got the grocery shopping done and put away. It was a cool and blustery day with the winds picking up during the afternoon so we just stayed inside. Some blog followers, Al and Karen, stopped by to introduce themselves. They are a young couple from Sag Harbor, New York (on Long Island) who sold their business and went fulltime in March of this year. They plan to w*rk their way around the country by taking both paid gigs and volunteering for their site. They are a nice couple and it was a great visit.

After Al and Karen left, we dropped by Thurman and Phyllis’ house. We just love the way they have decorated their fifthwheel. It reminds us of a grandpa/grandma house or apartment with lots of knick knacks and pictures neatly placed throughout the living spaces. You feel right at home and just know that a nice cup of tea will soon follow.

We spent the evening reading and watching a movie. Whenever we pass by the five dollar movie bin at Wally World, we check it out. So there are several movies in our cabinet that we’ve purchased but just never gotten around to watching.

Matthew called and was able to secure a Dora Puppy so now our Christmas shopping is officially over. Now the gift wrapping marathon will begin. We’ll get right on that over the next couple of weeks as well. Once we start our ten hour shifts (that may extend to eleven hour shifts with overtime) we’ll be too tired to read, watch movies, or wrap gifts but that’s what we’re here for – to make money.

Well, I’m rambling so it’s time to say fair thee well.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - -

A Soft Landing And Nice Friends

2011-11-12T05:58:00.001-06:00

We took off at nine hundred hours yesterday morning and set our course in a northerly direction with Green River Lake State Park in Campbellsville, Kentucky being our landing field. After flying two and a half hours on secondary roads, we arrived safely. However, we did manage to loose an hour just south of the campground when we flew into the Eastern Time Zone.

Green River Lake State Park is a beautiful park with nice sized level sites. Here is a photograph of our site along with Thurman and Phyllis’ rig (on the left).

And this is the view from our patio.

Here is a picture of Green River Lake from the shoreline. This is a man made lake having been created by a dam on the Green River constructed by the Corps of Engineers.

Thurman and Phyllis were excited to see us. It has been a just over a year since we last met up with them last at Lake George Escape. We had workamped with them at LGE in 2007, 2008, and 2009 and visited with them at LGE during July of 2010 when we were touring with our grand daughter Briana.

They wanted to show us around so we headed into town. Thurman did a drive by of the Amazon facility which is three foot ball fields long and three wide (150 by 300 yards) and four floors high. It’s no wonder that one can rack up some mileage while retrieving products in this place.

Next on the agenda was lunch so we made a pit stop at the local Subway store. Being Veteran’s Day, my sandwich was free, however, we can tell you one thing right now, they may have a lot of good sandwiches at Subway, but Philly Cheese Steak is not one of them (I guess you get what you pay for). Anyhow, once we were all back in the truck, T&P pointed out Uncle Wally’s, Kroger, the local Laundromat, and several good eateries. Basically, we got a tour of the “lay of the land”.

You can see the sunrise from our site, but not the sunset. However, there is a turnout just up the road from the campground where you can see it, so here’s a couple of shots of last night’s sunset. Maybe one of these mornings I’ll shake the cobwebs out of my mind and snap a few pictures of the sunrise.

Today we’re going grocery shopping at both Walmart and Kroger (Kroger is one of our favorite grocery stores). Then we’ll do some household chores and, if it is warm enough, we just may sit outside in this idyllic setting and do some reading. Once we begin w*rking, we’ll be going to w*rk in the dark and coming home in the dark so we’d better enjoy it while we have the chance. According to the weather dudes, it’s supposed to be warming up so it should be a nice weekend to be outside.

Hopefully, during the next few weeks we’ll get in a little exploring. There are some hiking trails that traverse along the lake side. We’d need to take advantage of them now because once we begin our ten hour hiking program with Amazon we’ll probably not look forward to a bus man’s holiday even if there’s a change of scenery.

Further, we would like to get in a little sight seeing. Lincoln’s birthplace is not far from here and there are several Civil War battlefields nearby. Maybe we can find a winery or two where we can taste the wares. We’re not sure how far away the bourbon trail is, but there maybe a couple of distilleries close by as well – we’ll need to check it out.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - -

Santa’s Little Helpers

2011-11-11T07:24:00.001-06:00

Well, it has become time to get up and go to w*rk. Yep, w*rk!!! That four letter word that us retirees try awfully hard to avoid. W*rk, something that has become quiet foreign to us. Hopefully we’ll remember how to do it. It’s not necessarily like riding a bike – you can forget how. Anyway, we’ll be making our way two and a half hours north. We plan to arrive at Green River Lake State Park at 11:11 this morning (get it – 11:11 on 11-11-11).

Elementary my dear Wilson or rather Wilson Elementary. We had lunch with grand daughter Catia at her school which is, you guessed it, Wilson Elementary. Man, those kids can be loud. The lunch room monitors had to keep turning the lights off. “When the lights are off there’s no more talking!!” So we either had to eat with it being so loud that you couldn’t hear yourself think or eat your mystery food in the dark. It was all fun and G-pa didn’t get sent to the “naughty table”, however, he was told that the next time he visits he should just go there to sit.

Next we managed to pick up the last couple items for our Christmas shopping. Oops, we still have one more item to find – a Dora Puppy. That’s not going to be easy. You know how there’s always one elusive item on the list to find? Well, that puppy is it, but if there’s one to be had G-ma will find it.

We finished up the day at Matt and Jackie’s saying good bye to the three little munchkin faces. They think that we’re on our way to the North Pole to help load up Santa’s sleigh for his Christmas run. They, also, know that we’ll be back to spend Christmas morning with them, but we may have to use our truck to haul Santa’s sleigh if the reindeer get sick. It’s always good to be someone’s hero.

“Head ‘em up, roll ‘em out!” It’s time to hitch up the mule to the wagon and head just plain north. See ya from Campbellsville, Kentucky.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - - -

Why Attend The 4 O’clock Social?

2011-11-10T07:50:00.001-06:00

Rainbow Plantation, as well as all Escapee Parks, hold a four o’clock social time each day to welcome new arrivals, pass on information regarding happenings in the park/area, celebrate birthdays and anniversaries, and share a few stories. For us it has been a serendipitous event as we have made lots and lots of new friends at these gatherings.

We don’t remember what year, but it was at a four o’clock social that we met Gene and Judi Curp and over the years a great friendship has evolved. Yesterday afternoon we met up with them once again for an early afternoon meal at Demos’ Family Restaurant in Lebanon, Tennessee.

It’s been almost a year since we last got together which just happened to be at Demos’. At that time they had just purchased a class C motorhome and were getting ready to travel the Blue Roads To Hiking Trails (their blog). Since then they have followed those blue roads all the way to Alaska and back so, needless to say, they had plenty to share with us.

The meals were great, always are at Demos’, but the company was the best. It was fun catching up with them once again and hearing the stories surround their adventure.

Judi said they were inspired by Norm and Linda’s Survival Kit and had to bring us a gift to help us get through the Amazon.com stint.

And guess who has to get into the picture?

After the meal, the four of us pointed our noses southward to our home where Judy had prepared some frosted brownies. I had picked up some nice Mayfield Butter Pecan ice cream to serve on top and the coffee was brewing. So our evening continued with discussions around travel, fulltiming lifestyle, class C motorhomes, and fifthwheels.

Great company, good discussions, and plenty of laughter – before we knew it, it was time to part company; always a sad time. We had a great evening together and thanks Gene and Judi for the gift. We’ll get together again at Rainbow Plantation after Christmas, can’t wait.

So, now you know why you owe it to yourself to attend the 4 o’clock socials at Rainbow Parks. There are lifetime friendships to be made.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - - -

It’s All About Grandkids

2011-11-09T07:00:00.001-06:00

Mission accomplished!!!! Yesterday was a very successful Christmas shopping day. By noontime the mission was complete. We just have a couple more items to get and hope that we can finish that up this afternoon as we head north to Lebanon. Now, I think it is way too early to be doing Christmas shopping, but, being that we are heading off to w*rk at Amazon, we want to have it all behind us.

Just to keep our future options opened, we looked at a couple of Condominium communities. One is an upscale project with brand spanking new condos with the smallest being just over 1300 square feet (they go up to almost 2000 sq. ft. – waaaaaay toooo much house for us). The other is a 55 plus community with duplex homes that have a common wall between the garages. But, neither project has the “it” factor; although, the duplexes were very nice.

We keep chasing that rabbit around the tree. We like Rainbow Plantation for fulltime living better than any other place. The fact that we have kids and brothers/sisters in Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, Tennessee, and Virginia makes it hard to pick a place to live permanently. With everyone spread out like that, we need a house in each of those areas – or, we could just become fulltime RVers and visit each of those places each year. Hey, wait a minute, that’s what we already are; maybe we don’t need a “house” at all!!!!! Maybe we just need to keep doing what we’re doing!!! Maybe!!!!

Jackie had an appointment for their car yesterday afternoon so G-ma and G-pa showed up at their place just after two to watch Kalina and Radek. Catia was thrown off the bus out in front of the house at around three, so we had all three children for almost an hour. Catia decided to whoop her G-ma at checkers while Kalina tried to help G-ma. G-pa kept an eye on Radek the mobile unit while he managed to get into one thing right after another. Fun, there’s nothing like Grand Kids to help keep one young.

This morning we are going to Kalina sit while Jackie takes Radek for a doctor’s appointment – Catia will be in school. We’ll probably get to put together the Dora puzzle a zillion more times. That’s seems to be Kalina’s new love.

Well, that’s pretty much the state of the union from Murfreesboro, so

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - -

Grand Kids Rock, Man!!!

2011-11-08T08:01:00.001-06:00

It was another uneventful travel day, just the way we like them. It was a nine hour day and even though it seemed long; before you knew it, we were pitching our tent here at Cedars of Lebanon State Park. We made four stops along the way – a rest stop after two hours, a fuel stop at Flying-J south of Montgomery, a lunch stop at mile marker 301, and a fuel stop at the Tennessean Truck Stop. We have four favorite camp sites here at Cedars of Lebanon and were able to secure our number one choice.

Then guess what? It was grand kid fix time. We made a bee line to the Murfreesboro residence to just to get our hands on the Munchkins. Catia seems to have grown two feet since we saw her last. She read to G-ma and G-pa – that’s a change isn’t it? She’s a good little reader. At her age I was reading, “See Spot Run. Run Spot run.” Catia reads “chapter books”. We’re impressed.

Miss Kalina has shot up to. She’s into puzzles and had G-ma and G-pa putting together a Dora puzzle. She would start the puzzle and complete it the same way every time so I decided to confuse her and give her one piece at a time starting in a different place. When I handed her the piece in the middle, she hesitated and said, “I can’t put that piece in yet.” Then she thought a little more, put the piece in the middle, and just built around it. She done good. It’s fun to watch little kids solve problems.

Radek is now a full fledged mobile unit. He’s walking around the house as if it were natural – well, I guess it is. He is a little brother and is real good at it, just ask his sisters. He loves to push buttons so keep him away from the computer, television, phone, or any other appliance that has buttons. Hockey is his sport. He has a hockey stick and a soft ball that he uses in the house. “Four!!!” Maybe golf is his game.

Here are some Halloween pictures of the little monsters.

We had dinner with the kids / grandkids, visited a little bit, and then our PJs were calling – no, after a nine hour driving day, they were screaming for us. So it was home to watch a little telly (The Sing Off) and to hit the hay.

Who knows what’s up for today, but I’m sure that we’ll find something to do. There are a couple of items that Grandma wants to pick up for Christmas. Most likely today will be the day to do that. Otherwise we’ll just make up the agenda as the day progresses.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - - -

It’s Time To Go :(

2011-11-07T05:18:00.001-06:00

Yesterday was a busy day. We attended church, stopped at Wally World to pick up some needed items, visited with Randy and Terry, stopped by to visit with Dick and Jody, did the final chores, and hitched up the wagon.

At four o’clock Randy, Terry, Judy, and I made tracks to Shrimp Basket for all you can eat shrimp. It was yummy, but, as always, the visitin’ part was the best. It’s soooooo gooooood to see these guys again. We’re gonna miss ‘em, along with all of our Rainbow Plantation Family.

The four of us made it back home in time to join in with the Ice Cream Social at the clubhouse. With Gary and Millie back as managers, it was just like old times. Larry (the cook) and Babs will be back on November 15th so things at Rainbow Plantation will be in full swing. We can’t wait to get back here.

Here are the promised pictures of the Kentucky Survival Kit that Norm and Linda put together for us. It was a two package deal.

Note the nice looking combo RV / Houseboat complete with outboard floating down the Green River in Campbellsville, Kentucky.

And now for the contents - Well Patches, Red Bull, Aleve, No Doz, Muscle Cream, and Leg Cramp pills in Package One of Two. Brownies with walnuts and candy in Package Two of Two. Now do you think we can survive the first day? What will we do for the next five and three quarter weeks? Oh my goodness!!!!

It’s now time that all good things come to an end and we haul up anchor and shove off – or in our case we unplug the utilities and haul assets. We’re going to drive nine hours to get to Murfreesboro in one day just so we can have an extra day to spend with grand kids. It’s a rough life, but someone has to do it. So we’ll be off real early this morning in order to get to Cedars of Lebanon before darkness falls, which is real early now that someone messed with the clocks.

I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date. No time to say “Hello” “Goodbye”. I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!!

So, we’re off. See ya from Tennessee.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - - - -

A Play Day

2011-11-06T07:14:00.001-06:00

A quick entry this morning to say that we’ve been having lots and lots of fun with our playmates here at the Plantation. Yesterday we were invited to dinner at Jim and Ellie’s. Jim prepared a wonderful pork loin on the charcoal grill while Ellie had baked squash, a garden salad, and rice. Judy brought a cranberry bread – it was all good. But, the best part, as always, was the time spent with special friends.

Dick and Pat came rolling in yesterday afternoon, so we stopped by to say “welcome home” to them and met their next door neighbors – George and Dottie. I think I can remember their names since my Dad’s and Mom’s names were George and Dottie. Anyhow, it was good to see Dick and Pat and Sassy (a bichon puppy) once again. They’ll be leaving before Christmas so we won’t see them again this year.

We must be popular because we had another invite last night to Norm and Linda’s for appetizers and drinks. Bill and Diane were there as well. It was another great evening with our Rainbow Plantation Family. Norm and Linda presented us with a Kentucky Survival Kit (pictures tomorrow) for our time at “Camp Bellsville”. Thanks guys, we’ll probably need most of those items after our first day (maybe after the first two hours).

This morning will be church. Randy and Terry should arrive somewhere close to noon time. We’ll go somewhere to grab a bite and catch up (yes, Mike, Big Daddy’s is a possibility). Dang, wish we weren’t leaving. All our friends are returning to the roost, but a man’s (woman’s) gotta do what a man’s (woman’s) gotta do. We’ll get back to share in the good times once again in January and February.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - -

Back To Daylight Wasting Time

2011-11-05T06:57:00.001-05:00

Yep, it’s time to do that stupid thing that most Americans do twice a year – mess with the clock. See what happens when you let Congress get involved? Everyone that we know thinks changing time is a dumb thing to do and wished that we’d just set our clocks on Daylight Savings Time and leave them alone. However, we have heard it reported that the mid west farmers do not like Daylight Savings Time – the extra hour of sun light burns up their crops. But, other than that, the rest of us like it lighter later.

We hate getting up at two o’clock in the morning to run throughout the house resetting all of our clocks. It’s amazing how many clocks we have. The computers, the TVs, the DVD player, the coffeepot, the microwave, and let us not forget the clock itself. Oops, we almost forgot the most important one of all – our wristwatches. That’s because Judy and I don’t have wristwatches, we have a day clock instead – it just tells us what day is which is helpful when you’re retired. Retired folks never get a day off or take a vacation, but they do need to know when to go to the clubhouse for breakfast or dinner.

Here’s a suggestion, we ought to rebel and refuse to change our clocks; after all, this is America and, just like Burger King, we can have it our way. Maybe that would send Congress a message and they would rescind this foolish legislation. Nah, they never listen to “We The People”, they just listen to the idiots. Mark Twain said, “All Congresses have a kindly feeling for idiots, and a compassion for them, on account of personal experience and heredity.” So, I guess it’s just up to us to take matters into our own hands and just refuse to go along with this foolishness.

So, we’ll see you at eight o’clock, or is that seven o’clock? Well, checking our clock on the wall, we’ll see you on Sunday.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - - - -

A Cure For Insomnia

2011-11-04T06:53:00.001-05:00

Last night was a restless night indeed. A little after mid night, I decided to take the Man Quilt for a test drive in my recliner. I can tell ya one thing right now. That blanket is completely filled with zzzz’s and insomnia doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance in some very hot climates. It’s not actually complete yet as it is still in the “fringing” stage – lots and lots of clipping needed. Next it has to be washed at least once, if not twice. Then it will be nice and soft and conforming. But warm and cuddly, I guess it’s warm and cuddly.

After taking a nice midnight nap under the Man Quilt, I was wide awake. Miss Judy was, also, up and about. It was only a little after three, but Judy made some coffee anyway and we began our day. However, I did sneak back to bed at around five for another hour’s worth of sleep. Someone’s in the kitchen with Momma, it’s Alex. He stayed up and kept Momma company while the ol’ man was snoring.

We are about a week late in leaving Rainbow Plantation as all our friend are rolling in and now we hate the thought of leaving. Yesterday evening was another impromptu outing at Big Daddy’s. The quilting ladies decided to take their husbands “under arms” and meet around the table at BD’s. When we were walking in, we bumped into Jim and Ellie walking out; they had just arrived and had to take care of “Feed Me”. Of course, Bill and Diane had arrived on Monday so we sat with them. Randy and Terry will arrive Sunday, just before we leave on Monday. Oh well, it is what it is. Just like Schwarzenegger, we’ll be back.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - - -

Hobgoblins And Major Progress

2011-11-02T07:06:00.001-05:00

Where did this motley crew come from? Oh no, tell us it’s not so!!! These are our grand children? Couldn’t be!!! Our grand kids are sweet and lovable, well behaved, and nicely dressed; these kids are just a bunch of hobgoblins. We think we can Trick ‘em though, that way we can keep the Treats for ourselves.

Progress has been made, the Man Quilt is all sewed up. It just needs the intensive cutting job to “fringe” all the loose ends around each block and the entire perimeter of the blanket. I gave it a trial run, it’s just as warm and cuddly as I had anticipated. Notice the thumb in my mouth.

Also, the Entertainment Center Mod has been completed. Here are the before and after shots. The modifications allow the television to be pulled out and turned although it generally remains has you see it. We had to complete the modifications before “hitting” the road because we needed to be able to lock the TV in place. See the slide locks on the face plate? They keep the TV from sliding out while going down the road.

Yesterday afternoon we went to the Mall in Spanish Fort to fill in the gaps in our Christmas shopping. We now have just a couple items left to pick up when we get to Tennessee and few more that we’ll order from Amazon once we get to Kentucky. Then, TA-DA, the 2011 Christmas shopping will be behind us. Hooray for our team!!

After running around hither and thither we bumped into “Feed Me” so a pit stop was made to Olive Garden where Judy had the chicken parmesan and I had my old stand by, spaghetti with Italian sausages. As always, there was plenty of salad and bread sticks. By the time we were finished with the meal, there was no room for dessert.

Now it’s onto another quick wash of the rig and the truck, airing up the tires, picking up the yard, and we’ll be on our way come bright and early Monday morning.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - - -

The Great Peanut Butter Caper

2011-11-01T07:16:00.001-05:00

The price of fuel has been going up, medical costs have been going up, coffee prices have been going up, and, now, the price of peanut butter is going by as much as forty percent. Now it’s getting personal. Peanut butter is a staple; a necessity of life. Someone has got to do something and do it quickly. What is this life coming to when you can buy a Wendy’s hamburger for less than you can get a PB & J? It’s just not right.

So, to all my fellow Americans out there in cyber space, write your congressman (woman) and let them know of your displeasure. Rather than waste their time with hearings on HGH use in the NFL (let the legal system deal with that), encourage them to engage in the great Peanut Butter Caper and pass legislation that caps the price of Peanut Butter to the pre 1967 Israeli war.

We need price wars. Maybe Planter’s can undercut Skippy or Peter Pan can steal the show by reducing their price waaaay below Jif. Instead of sending money off to businesses in China, Japan, Korea, etc., maybe our Gummint should bolster up the Peanut Butter industry right here in the good old USA with some kind of stimulus money.

There maybe a horrible economy, there maybe unemployment, there maybe homelessness, there maybe wars going on, but raising the price of Peanut Butter is taking things waaaay too far. I can guarantee you that come November 2011 I’ll not vote for anyone who does not have a sound game plan for reducing the price of Peanut Butter. This is an atrocity. We must act now!!!! Write your Senator, write your Congressman, write the President (he has kids, he’ll understand). We need action and we need it now. Don’t just sit there, don’t delay – Act Now!!!!!

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - - - -